Sudanese denies Darfur crimes charges

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Sudanese denies Darfur crimes charges

By MOHAMED OSMAN, Associated Press Writer
25 minutes ago



A Sudanese accused of war crimes denied leading a group of janjaweed militias in attacks on civilians in Darfur, saying in a newspaper report Sunday that he had been recruited to protect villagers and nomads from the Arab militiamen.

"We did not kill any innocent people and we did not cause the displacement of any people," Ali Mohammed Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, was quoted as saying in the pro-Arab, pro-Islamist Al Intibaha newspaper.

He told Al Intibaha the accusations were untrue "simply because these acts never occurred in the first place."

Kushayb accused "rebel elements" of setting him up to be accused of the alleged crimes.

Last week, the International Criminal Court charged Kushayb and Ahmed Muhammed Harun, the former junior interior minister responsible for the western region of Darfur, with 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The document says that there are "reasonable grounds to believe" that Harun and Kushayb "bear criminal responsibility" for the offenses, including murder, rape, torture and persecution.

Kushayb, who was dressed in a white turban and appeared to be in his mid-50s in the picture that accompanied Sunday's newspaper article, denied having met with Harun to carry out the alleged crimes.

The ICC document provided the first details of a 21-month investigation into the situation in Darfur, where more than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million displaced. Fighting erupted in February 2003 when ethnic African tribesmen took up arms, complaining of decades of neglect and discrimination by the Khartoum government. Arab militias known as the janjaweed are blamed for many of the crimes.

Prosecutors singled out atrocities in four separate towns and villages, saying janjaweed fighters targeted civilians suspected of supporting rebels.

ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo cited a rape victim in the town of Arawala who described in detail how Kushayb "personally inspected a group of naked women before they were raped by men under his command."

In another incident, Kushayb, whom Moreno-Ocampo called a colonel of colonels in the janjaweed, "personally participated" in the summary execution of at least 32 men.

Khartoum told Moreno-Ocampo that Kushayb was arrested last November and is in custody for investigation into five attacks in which hundreds of people were killed. The attacks were not the same as those being probed by the ICC, he said.

If Kushayb and Harun are convicted by the ICC, they face a maximum sentence of life imprisonment at the court, which does not have the death penalty.

Sudan's president said Saturday that his country would not hand over for trial any citizen sought by international courts.
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"May God have mercy upon my enemies, because I won't." -General George S. Patton

Psalm 82-8: Arise, O God, judge the earth, for You inherit all the nations.