Sarkozy offers Bashir deal over war crimes

The French PM extends his Sudanese counterpart a lifeline by offering to help suspend his prosecution for genocide in Darfur.

French president Nicolas Sarkozy addresses the 63rd session of the United Nations General Assembly at the United Nations in New York on Sept 23 2008.

UNITED NATIONS // Nicolas Sarkozy, the French president, extended his Sudanese counterpart, Omar al Bashir, a lifeline yesterday by offering to help suspend his prosecution for genocide in Darfur in exchange for radical policy changes. Speaking on the sidelines of the annual UN General Assembly, Mr Sarkozy said he would use his country's influence in the Security Council to defer the International Criminal Court (ICC) prosecution against Mr Bashir if he committed himself to peace.

"France wants the Sudanese authorities to radically change their policies. It is now up to Mr Bashir to determine exactly what he wants," Mr Sarkozy said. "We want to? put an end to the scandalous situation in which there are tens of thousands of people dying in this part of Africa." The UN Security Council can defer the ICC prosecution for one year by enacting Article 16 of the Rome Statute, if backed by nine of its 15 members and all five permanent members. France is a permanent member, along with the UK, China, Russia and the United States.

"If the Sudanese authorities totally change their policy, then France would not be against using Article 16," Mr Sarkozy said. "Things must be clear, there will be no recourse to Article 16 unless there is radical and immediate change in Sudan's policies." The ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, asked the court in July for an arrest warrant for Mr Bashir, alleging genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity in the western province of Darfur. If granted, it will be the first indictment against a sitting head of state since the court's creation in 2002.

The UN estimates that up to 300,000 people have died in Darfur and more than 2.2 million have fled their homes since rebels rose up against Khartoum in Feb 2003. A panel of judges is reviewing Mr Moreno-Ocampo's evidence and will decide in the coming weeks whether to issue the warrant against the 64-year-old president, who seized power in Africa's biggest country by toppling a democratically elected government in 1989.

Mr Sarkozy's comments came as world leaders congregated in midtown Manhattan to discuss world poverty, but the agenda quickly became dominated by the global credit crunch, Iran's nuclear programme and the prosecution of Mr Bashir. Abdulrahman al Atiyyah, secretary general of the Gulf Co-operation Council, joined a chorus of voices attacking the prosecution of Mr Bashir, saying the historic legal bid would undermine security in Sudan.

"We have a stand which rejects any move or step which, as we consider in the GCC, will not be in the interests of the stability and security of Sudan. Our position is clear on that," Mr Atiyyah said. The Omani was speaking after a meeting of GCC foreign ministers including the UAE's Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed and Saudi Arabia's Prince Saud Al Faisal, discussing diplomatic strategies for the annual UN General Assembly debates.

Support from the Gulf's six-nation club bolsters similar statements from the Arab League and the African Union, which are both campaigning for the Security Council to defer prosecution. Ekmeleddin Ihsanoglu, secretary general of the 57-member Organisation of the Islamic Conference, urged leaders to be "a little bit more prudent" before forcing Sudan's president to stand trial in The Hague. "I sense that a consensus is emerging among the different international organisations that we have to give a chance for more negotiations and for the Sudanese government to take more actions in the right direction before we get to a point we might regret," Mr Ihsanoglu said on the sidelines of the UN General Assembly on Monday.

Mr Bashir has established a network of personal allegiances with Arab leaders during an extensive career, which has seen him serve as Sudan's military attache to the UAE and fight alongside Egyptian forces in the 1973 Arab-Israeli war. The president's domestic policies have aimed to ensure Arab tribes from the Nile Valley, which have ruled Sudan since independence from Britain in 1956, maintain their hold on power.

Sudanese diplomats have been lobbying behind-the-scenes to avert the prosecution of Mr Bashir, currying support from Arab and African leaders and pushing the issue towards the Security Council. Mr Bashir's spokesman, Mahfuz Faidul, said the Sudanese delegation to the UN, headed by Ali Osman Taha, the vice president, will tell the General Assembly about Sudan's efforts to reach a peace deal in Darfur.

Mr Taha is planning talks with several leaders including Mr Sarkozy and members of Qatar's delegation, which has offered to mediate between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels. But as the regional groups and world powers attempt to prevent charges being made against Sudan's president, Mr Moreno-Ocampo also announced plans to join world leaders in New York and defend the charges. The ICC prosecutor is due to meet African Union officials and discuss "how to further the protection of civilians in Darfur, stop the crimes, and ensure the court's judicial mandate and decisions", according to a statement from Mr Moreno-Ocampo's office.

Ban Ki-moon, the UN secretary general, continued his support for the ICC legal process, emphasising "the need for justice to run its course in parallel with the peace process", his spokeswoman said. @Email:[e-mail]