Arab League envoy: Sudanese president's indictment a serious blow to peace

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
The indictment of Sudan's president on genocide charges is a serious blow to peace efforts in the country's troubled Darfur region, an Arab League envoy said Tuesday. Egyptian diplomat Salah Halima said that the indictment filed by a prosecutor at the International Criminal Court on Monday will also have a negative impact on the region's stability. He added that the prosecutor had overstepped his jurisdiction with the charges accusing President Omar al-Bashir of orchestrating campaigns to wipe out ethnic African tribes in Darfur. Sudan is not a member of the Netherlands-based court, which is the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal. The Arab envoy also said that other countries pressured the court to charge al-Bashir for political reasons.