THE HAGUE, Netherlands, March 2 (UPI) -- The Sudanese defense minister is wanted for more than 40 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the genocide in Darfur, the ICC said.
The International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese Defense Minister Abdelrahim Mohamed Hussein on 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes committed in Darfur from 2003-04.
The court said there are "reasonable grounds to believe" the defense minister "had knowledge of the crimes committed against the civilian population and that he intended that the alleged crimes be committed."
The ICC called for his arrest in December. The court said it had evidence to suggest the defense minister bears "the greatest criminal responsibility" for crimes in Darfur.
The court said Khartoum could have taken steps to disarm militias and offered Janjaweed militia leader Ali Kushayb and Humanitarian Affairs Minister Ahmad Harun to the ICC but the Sudanese president chose to do nothing. The court said Hussein delegated responsibilities to Harun, who was appointed to the so-called Darfur Security Desk.
This is the fourth ICC case regarding Darfur. Sudanese President Omar Bashir is among those wanted for war crimes in connected with the genocide.
Khartoum isn't party to the Rome Statute that created the ICC.
