Tribunal OKs warrant for Bashir's arrest

THE HAGUE, Netherlands, March 4 (UPI) -- An international tribunal Wednesday issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan Ahmad al-Bashir on crimes against humanity and war crimes.

The International Criminal Court, sitting at The Hague, Netherlands, said Bashir is suspected of being criminally responsible "for intentionally directing attacks against an important part of the civilian population of Darfur, Sudan, murdering, exterminating, raping, torturing and forcibly transferring large numbers of civilians, and pillaging their property," an ICC news release said.

It is the first warrant the tribunal ever has issued against a sitting head of state.

The prosecution's indictment against Bashir accused him of orchestrating a campaign that left more than 300,000 civilians dead and drove more than 2.7 million people from their homes during a five-year period.

The arrest warrant listed seven counts, including five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes. The ICC panel said prosecutors failed to provide "reasonable grounds to believe the government of Sudan acted with specific intent to destroy" three ethnic groups, so the crime of genocide wasn't included in the warrant.

If additional evidence becomes available, Wednesday's decision "would not prevent the prosecution" from asking the warrant be amended "to include the crime of genocide," the ICC said.

Bashir, preparing to celebrate the opening of a hydroelectric project, Tuesday dismissed the actions of the ICC tribunal, the Sudan Tribune reported.

"They can eat it," Bashir said of the warrant.