AU Chair Backs Bashir over ICC Indictment

African Union (AU) Chairman and Tanzanian President Jakaya Kikwete has urged the International Criminal Court (ICC) to defer its intention to charge Sudanese President Omar al Bashir for genocide in Darfur. Speaking while visiting Bashir in Khartoum, Kikwete said peace was the AU’s priority, warning that indicting Bashir could worsen the Darfur crisis. Last May, the ICC announced its intention to arrest Bashir and charge him for the genocidal killing of an estimated 350,000 Darfuris.[PE]