NEW YORK, Jan. 14 (UPI) -- Amnesty International criticized the United Nations for providing transport to a Sudanese leader wanted for war crimes in the troubled Darfur region.
Saturday marks the last day for voting on a referendum for an independent South Sudan. The vote is part of a comprehensive peace deal reached in 2005 that brought an end to one of the bloodiest civil wars in the modern era.
Rights groups complained the referendum process was overshadowing ongoing concerns in Darfur. Renzo Pomi, Amnesty's representative at the United Nations, complained that U.N. peacekeepers were helping war criminals in Sudan.
"It's outrageous that someone who is wanted by the International Criminal Court for crimes against humanity and war crimes is given transport by the United Nations without being arrested," Pomi said.
His complaint centered on claims that peacekeepers assisted Ahmed Haroun, a regional governor, travel to the oil-rich region of Abyei to help bring an end to conflict that has simmered during the referendum process.
Haroun, during his tenure as Sudanese interior minister from 2003-05m is accused of providing assistance to the Janjaweed militia blamed for atrocities against civilians in Darfur.
U.N. officials said his assistance was "critical" in thwarting further violence in Abyei.
