The United States on Wednesday urged all parties to the Darfur conflict to exercise restraint after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
"The White House believes that those that have committed atrocities should be held accountable. As this process moves forward, that we would urge restraint on the part of all parties, including the government of Sudan," said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs.
Earlier on Wednesday, the Hague-based ICC issued an arrest warrant against al-Bashir for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in the country's restive western region of Darfur between 2003 and 2008, Xinhua reported.
The Bashir-led government has been blamed for playing a key planning role in the Darfur conflict, which has killed some 300, 000 and displaced 2.5 million civilians since February 2003.
"Further violence against civilians Sudanese or foreign interests is to be avoided and won't be tolerated," the spokesman said, adding that President Barack Obama and his administration " are determined to support the pursuit of an immediate ceasefire and long-term peace in the region."
On March 31, 2005, the U.N. Security Council adopted Resolution 1593, which said that people committing war and anti-humanity crimes in Darfur should be brought to the ICC. In June that year, the ICC announced the opening of an investigation into war crime suspects in Darfur despite Sudan's protest.
ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo requested the arrest warrant for Bashir last July, making the latter the third sitting head of state to be charged by an international court following Liberia's Charles Taylor and Yugoslavia's Slobodan Milosevic. The Arab world and many African countries have warned of its negative consequences. U.N. Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon also voiced his great concerns over the charge against Bashir.
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