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| President Omar al-Beshir |
THE HAGUE, July 11, 2008 (AFP) - International Criminal Court prosecutors will seek the arrest of Sudan President Omar al-Beshir for genocide in Darfur, it emerged Friday, prompting Khartoum to warn of a threat to peace efforts.
"I understand that the prosecutor intends to go before a panel of judges to present information and request for a warrant," US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters in Washington, confirming newspaper reports that Beshir would be targeted.
It would mark the first-ever bid before the independent court, based in The Hague, to charge a sitting head of state.
The Sudanese government, which rejects the ICC's jurisdiction and refuses to surrender two war crimes suspects already named, responded angrily to the news.
"If there is a decision about President Beshir, it may destroy the peace process," state minister for foreign affairs Al-Samani al-Wasila told AFP. | 
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