The New Nation - Internet Edition

Reuters, United Nations

The U.N. Security Council may want to consider suspending any war crimes indictment of Sudan's president by the International Criminal Court, Russia's U.N. ambassador told reporters on Monday.

The African Union has urged the Security Council to put on hold any ICC decision to accept the court's chief prosecutor's call for an indictment of and arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir over war crimes in Darfur. The AU appeal, issued on Monday after a meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council in Ethiopia, followed a similar appeal by the Arab League and boosted Khartoum's diplomatic efforts to block any indictment.

"We should be very attentive to their appeals," Russian Ambassador to the United Nations Vitaly Churkin told reporters ahead of a meeting of the Security Council on other issues.

Under Article 16 of the ICC statute, the 15-nation Security Council can pass a resolution suspending ICC investigations or prosecutions for a renewable period of one year. "If something of this sort (on an Article 16 suspension) is initiated, it's at least worth considering," Churkin said.