Genocide charges prepared for Sudan leader

Washington Post:

The chief prosecutor of the Internationals Criminal Court will seek an arrest warrant Monday for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir, charging him with genocide and crimes against humanity in the orchestration of a campaign of violence that led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in the nation's Darfur region during the past five years, according to U.N. officials and diplomats.

The action by the prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo of Argentina, will mark the first time that the tribunal in The Hague charges a sitting head of state with such crimes, and represents a major step by the court to implicate the highest levels of the Sudanese government for the atrocities in Darfur.

Some U.N. officials raised concerns Thursday that the decision would complicate the peace process in Darfur, possibly triggering a military response by Sudanese forces or proxies against the nearly 10,000 U.N. and African Union peacekeepers located there. At least seven peacekeepers were killed and 22 were injured Tuesday during an ambush by a well-organized and unidentified armed group.

Representatives from the five permanent members of the U.N. Security Council -- Britain, China, France, Russia and the United States -- met with U.N. officials Thursday to discuss the safety of peacekeepers in Darfur. U.N. military planners have begun moving peacekeepers to safer locations and are distributing food and equipment in case the Sudanese government cuts off supplies.

"All bets are off; anything could happen," said one U.N. official, adding that circumstantial evidence shows that the government of Sudan orchestrated this week's ambush. "The mission is so fragile, it would not take much for the whole thing to come crashing down."

Sudan's U.N. ambassador, Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamad, said rebels are responsible for the attack on U.N. peacekeepers, and insisted that Sudanese forces will not retaliate against foreign peacekeepers. However, he warned that the announcement of charges against Bashir or other senior officials would "destroy" international efforts to reach a peace settlement in Darfur.

...

Peace on Darfur never had a chance as long as Bashir is in power. He is making war against not only the people in Darfur, but the Christian South Sudan as well as his neighbors in Chad. That he is also making war against the UN is also no surprise to me. It was predictable. The UN forces are blocking him from achieving his objectives in Darfur. That is why he is attacking them.

The UN needs to rethink its "peacekeeping" role for troops. Sending in light infantry to stand between warring factions makes no sense unless the UN force has the means to defend it self with heavy weapons and air support. It must have the means to impose ist will on the area if its peacekeeping role is to be effective.

We are also about to find out just how impotent the ICC is in these situations. Once they get their indictment how do they propose to arrest Bashir? It will take more than the 10,000 "peacekeepers" to pull that off.