President Al-Bashir charged with genocide, war crimes

"After three years I have strong evidence that al-Bashir is committing a genocide"

Sudan's president, Omar Hassan al-Bashir, has been accused by chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in Darfur.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo is urging a three-judge panel to issue an arrest warrant for al-Bashir to prevent the deaths of about 2.5 million people forced from their homes in the war-torn region of Darfur and who are still under attack from government-backed Janjaweed militia.

The five charges against al-Bashir include masterminding attempts to wipe out African tribes in the war-torn region with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation.

"The (U.N.) Security Council referred the case to me and requested me to investigate," Moreno-Ocampo said.

"After three years I have strong evidence that al-Bashir is committing a genocide. I cannot be blackmailed, I cannot yield. Silence never helped the victims. Silence helped the perpetrators. The prosecutor should not be silent."

The judges must now decide whether to issue the warrant, and it is widely expected that they will; the judges have approved all of Moreno-Ocampo's previous submissions to the court.

If issued, the warrant would make al-Bashir the first sitting president to be indicted by the ICC for genocide.

In his request, Moreno-Ocampo says there are reasonable grounds to believe that al-Bashir bears criminal responsibility for five counts of genocide, two counts of crimes against humanity, and two counts of war crimes.

The alleged crimes stem from a brutal counter-insurgency campaign the Sudanese government conducted after rebels began an uprising in Sudan's western Darfur region in 2003. The United States and much of the world has already characterized the campaign as genocide.

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