NAIROBI, KENYA — Sudan's diplomatic offensive against the International Criminal Court is gaining momentum in Africa, but faces stiff odds before the U.N. Security Council.
The government of Sudan has been waging a high-profile political campaign since the court's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, last week filed charges of genocide and crimes against humanity against the country's leader. President Omar Hassan Ahmed Bashir is accused of responsibility for alleged crimes against civilians in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.
In recent days, Sudanese diplomats have fanned out to more than a dozen countries, trying to persuade allies and sometimes archrivals to pressure the United Nations to use its authority to quash or postpone an arrest warrant against Bashir, which is expected to be formally issued in coming months.
"They are doing what they have always excelled in: buying time and delaying the process," said Taisier Ali, a former Sudanese rebel leader and now director of the Peacebuilding Center for the Horn of Africa in Asmara, the capital of Eritrea.
He said Bashir's government used a similar strategy in 2007 to keep U.N. peacekeepers out of Darfur for nearly a year. "Khartoum has been successful in that game, and they've been emboldened by the past."
Darfur has been beset by violence since a rebellion against the central government began in 2003. At least 200,000 people have died because of the conflict, according to most estimates, and many of the deaths have been blamed on militias that critics say were unleashed by the government to quell the rebellion.
On Monday, after heavy lobbying and warnings of regional instability, the African Union called for a delay in the Hague court's proceedings. In contrast to the AU's recent divisions over how to respond to political violence in Zimbabwe during the reelection campaign of longtime President Robert Mugabe, the organization seems largely united in its support for Sudan.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Meles Zenawi warned against a "single-minded pursuit of justice" that might hurt efforts to achieve peace in Darfur.
He noted that an outstanding warrant of the court against northern Ugandan rebel Joseph Kony, who is accused of kidnapping thousands of children and turning them into soldiers, is believed to be one of the reasons the guerrilla leader refuses to sign a peace accord.
"Concern for justice should not trump concern for peace," Meles said.
