Int'l tribunal to rule on Bashir warrant

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, March 3 (UPI) -- A tribunal in The Hague, Netherlands, says it is preparing to announce its decision on whether to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Bashir.

The International Criminal Court said it will rule Wednesday on a request by the court's prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, that Bashir be arrested on charges of charges of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur.

Moreno-Ocampo says Bashir exploited racial animosities in the Darfur region of the country to try to destroy ethnic black African populations living there, employing Arab militiamen who attacked civilians in towns and villages inhabited mainly by the targeted groups, committing killings, rapes, torture and destroying means of livelihood

The United Nations estimates some 400,000 people have died from the conflicts in Darfur, with more than 2.7 million others displaced.

U.N. peacekeeping troops in Darfur won't come under threat should Bashir be indicted for war crimes, U.N. Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Alan Le Roy said Monday in New York, indicating he has been assured that the joint U.N.-African Union mission in Darfur, UNAMID, will continue its patrols protecting the local population.