AU asks UN to Defer Bashir Indictment

The African Union (AU) has asked the UN Security Council to suspend the decision by the International Criminal Court to press genocide charges against Sudanese leader Omar al-Bashir for one year. Speaking on behalf of the AU’s Peace and Security Council that had just held a crisis meeting to discuss the issue, Nigerian Foreign minister Ojo Maduekwe warned that arresting Bashir would plunge Sudan into mass turmoil. Last week, ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo applied for an arrest warrant for Bashir to face charges concerning the genocidal killing of at least 400,000 Darfuris since 2003. [PE]