KHARTOUM, Sudan, April 21 (UPI) -- Weather forced the emergency landing Monday of a plane carrying a Sudanese government minister wanted on war crimes for the genocide in Darfur.
A plane carrying Sudanese Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmed Mohamed Haroun made an emergency landing in central Sudan when a sandstorm closed the main airport in Khartoum, the Sudanese Times reported.
The delegation on board included Transportation Minister Philip Ton, another humanitarian official, Haround Lawal, and senior military leaders.
The International Criminal Court in The Hague filed charges against Haroun and several others for alleged war crimes in Darfur. The ICC claims that Haroun was responsible for organizing and funding the Janjaweed paramilitary force, the principal actors in the atrocities in Darfur.
Sudan hasn't ratified the treaty establishing the ICC and therefore claims it has no obligation to turn Haroun over to face prosecution.
