Kaddafi: The ICC is a new form of global terrorism

Libyan leader Muammar Kaddafi, President of the African Union (AU), told journalists Sunday that the International Criminal Court (ICC) was a new form of global terrorism.

•     It is known that all third world countries oppose this so-called International Criminal Court. Unless everyone is treated equally, it will not work, said Mr Kaddafi after a meeting with officials of the AU in Addis Ababa.
  
      This is the case now. This court is against countries that were colonized in the past and (the West) wants to re-colonize. It is the practice of a new global terrorism, he said.
  
      It is not just a president be arrested, he said in reference to the arrest warrant issued March 4 by the ICC against Sudanese President Omar el-Bachir for war crimes and crimes against the humanity in Darfur (western Sudan).
  
      If we allow such a thing, that a president be arrested and tried, as President Bachir, we should also judge those who have killed hundreds, millions of children in Iraq and Gaza, said the Libyan Guide.
  
      The AU has several times condemned the decision of the ICC, saying it threatened peace in Sudan, both in Darfur (region plagued by civil war since 2003), between Khartoum and southern Sudan.
  
      It began lobbying the Security Council of the United Nations that the decision of the ICC is suspended pursuant to Article 16 of the Rome Statute which governs the functioning of the Court.
  
      On Article 16, we just expect that the Arab summit in Doha (starting Monday) takes a decision and we will move together, because in our case, we have the decision of the summit of the AU February, said Ramtane Lamamra, the AU commissioner for peace and security.
  
      The AU Summit in Addis Ababa in February had requested suspension of prosecution against Mr. Bachir.
  
      We are putting up a high-level delegation which will go to New York to try to influence the Security Council of the UN, he added, stressing that the Arab States and Africa will work together on this issue.
  
      
  Ennaharonline / M. O.