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| ICC issues Darfur arrest warrants | ICC issues Darfur arrest warrants |
| (10 minutes later) | |
| The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for a Sudanese minister and a militia leader suspected of war crimes in the Darfur region. | The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants for a Sudanese minister and a militia leader suspected of war crimes in the Darfur region. |
| Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, also called Ali Kushayb, are wanted on 51 counts. | Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Haroun and Janjaweed leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd al-Rahman, also called Ali Kushayb, are wanted on 51 counts. |
| Sudan says the ICC has no jurisdiction to try Sudanese and that its own courts are capable of prosecuting suspects. | Sudan says the ICC has no jurisdiction to try Sudanese and that its own courts are capable of prosecuting suspects. |
| Some 200,000 people have died in the four-year Darfur conflict, says the UN. | Some 200,000 people have died in the four-year Darfur conflict, says the UN. |
| Mr Haroun was the former interior minister in charge of Darfur and, according to the ICC, was responsible for organising and funding the Arab militia known as the Janjaweed. | |
| Ali Kushayb is accused of ordering the murder, torture and mass rape of innocent civilians during attacks on villages near Kodoom, Bindisi Mukjar and Arawala in west Darfur. | |
| 'Duty' | |
| "We completed an investigation under very difficult circumstances, from outside Darfur, and without exposing any of our witnesses," ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement, AFP news agency reports. | "We completed an investigation under very difficult circumstances, from outside Darfur, and without exposing any of our witnesses," ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo said in a statement, AFP news agency reports. |
| Q&A: Sudan's Darfur conflict Q&A: The ICC Sudan under fresh pressure | |
| "We transformed their stories into evidence, and now the judges have confirmed the strength of that evidence." | "We transformed their stories into evidence, and now the judges have confirmed the strength of that evidence." |
| He said the Sudanese government had a legal duty to arrest the men. | He said the Sudanese government had a legal duty to arrest the men. |
| In February, they were named by the ICC as suspects in a total of 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity including the murder, rape, torture and persecution of civilians in Darfur. | |
| Correspondents say the ICC moves have transformed a long-running disagreement with Khartoum into a head-on collision. | |
| Mr Haroun has said the move against him was political and that he had a clear conscience. | |
| Mr Kushayb is thought to already be in the custody of the Sudanese government for attacks committed in Darfur, but Mr Moreno-Ocampo has said his evidence relates to different incidents. | |
| More than 2m civilians have fled their homes in Darfur, with most now staying in insecure camps supported by humanitarian agencies, who complain of frequent harassment from the Sudanese authorities. |