U.S. not party to Sudan genocide warrant

KHARTOUM, Sudan, Aug. 9 (UPI) -- A U.S. diplomat says the United States is not party to moves by the International Criminal Court to indict Sudanese President Omar Bashir for war crimes.

Visiting envoy Richard Williamson made the comment Saturday in Khartoum after meeting with Sudanese First Deputy Salva Kiir Mayardit, KUNA, the Kuwaiti news agency, reported.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo has asked the court to issue an arrest warrant for Bashir on charges he aided in the alleged genocide of black Africans in Sudan's Darfur region by Muslim paramilitary forces. But Williamson said the United States is instead interested in learning about the latest developments in Darfur, KUNA reported, including Khartoum's efforts to bring stability and peace between northern and southern Sudan.

Mayardit said an ICC arrest warrant for Bashir wouldn't help to bring peace to Darfur, predicting "it will have negative consequences on neighboring countries and instability which most of these countries suffer from already."