By IANS,
The Hague : The International Criminal Court (ICC) has issued an arrest warrant against Sudanese Defense Minister Abdel Raheem Muhammad Hussein.
He is suspected of counts of crimes against humanity and war crimes allegedly committed in the Darfur region of Sudan from August 2003 to March 2004, Xinhua reported.
According to The Hague-based ICC Chamber, there are reasonable grounds to believe that he is criminally responsible for 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 21 counts of war crimes.
Hussein “made essential contributions to the formulation and implementation of the common plan, inter alia, through his overall coordination of national, state and local security entities and through the recruitment, arming and funding of the police forces and the militia in Darfur,” it said.
Sudan is not a state party to the Rome Statute, the treaty which created the ICC, and therefore not obliged to handover Hussein to The Hague.
Seven Sudanese suspects have been indicted by the court so far, including Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, who has denied the charges against him and refused to surrender.