Africans ask UN to delay al-Bashir prosecution
UNITED NATIONS — The African Union asked the UN Security Council in a letter circulated on Friday to delay for a year the prosecution of Sudan@@@s President Omar al-Bashir on charges of genocide and other alleged crimes.The 53-nation continent-wide organization said it wants the delay because a trial of al-Bashir would interfere with efforts to end the seven-year conflict in western Darfur."The processes under way in the Sudan are too critical to the future of the country and the stability of the region and the continent as a whole to be allowed to fail," the African Union@@@s UN observer, Tete Antonio, said.His letter was made public hours before a high-level meeting on Sudan on the sideline of the UN General Assembly@@@s annual ministerial meeting. President Barack Obama and other leaders focused mostly on a crucial referendum on southern independence scheduled for January, but prospects for peace in Darfur were also raised.Last year judges at the International Criminal Court issued a warrant against al-Bashir for war crimes and crimes against humanity. In July, the judges added three counts of genocide, the first time the world@@@s first permanent war crimes tribunal has issued genocide charges.ByREUTERS06/08/2025 07:57 AMByREUTERS06/08/2025 05:36 AMByMAARIV06/07/2025 02:33 PMByWALLA!06/07/2025 11:18 AMByREUTERS06/07/2025 03:25 AM
