Shelve ICC action against Bashir, AU asks

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia, July 22 (UPI) -- The African Union has asked the U.N. Security Council to suspend an indictment against the Sudanese president, saying it would destabilize the country.

The International Criminal Court's prosecutor is pursuing an indictment of Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity for the situation in Darfur. The ICC is under the auspices of the United Nations.

The African Union, which recently met in Ethiopia, said an indictment would endanger efforts to resolve Darfur's humanitarian crisis, the Voice of America reported Tuesday.

The African Union's Peace and Security Council requested creating a panel of prominent Africans to develop recommendations on how to address accountability and reconciliation issues raised by the Darfur conflict.

AU spokesman El-Ghassim Wane told VOA the Peace and Security Council sought the indictment suspension for two reasons.

"The first one is of course the unflinching commitment of the African Union to combating impunity, and ensuring that those responsible for human rights violations in Darfur are brought to book," he said. "The second element is the need to preserve the gains made in the peace process and ensure our efforts, which we are jointly deploying with the UN, especially in Darfur."