INTERVIEW-Sudan hopes peace push will head off indictment

By Andrew Heavens

KHARTOUM, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Sudan hopes a new peace push in Darfur will help persuade Western countries to support a postponement of war crimes charges against its president, the Sudanese foreign minister said on Tuesday.

Sudan's president is expected to announce a new set of peace measures on Wednesday, including a fresh ceasefire in Darfur and the release of political prisoners, according to a copy of plans seen by Reuters.

Foreign Minister Deng Alor said the new plans would give Sudan the "moral authority" to ask the United States, Britain and France to back a campaign to defer any indictment of President Omar Hassan al-Bashir by the International Criminal Court (ICC).

"If we can come up with a clear framework ... we would have a strong argument to the international community that we are resolving this problem, that we need a chance to resolve this problem," the minister told Reuters in an interview.

In July, ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court's judges to issue an arrest warrant against Bashir, accusing him orchestrating genocide in Darfur, where international experts say ethnic and political conflict has left 200,000 people dead and 2.5 million homeless since 2003.

After the prosecutor's request, Sudan stepped up diplomatic efforts to persuade members of the U.N. Security Council to use their powers to postpone the case.

But it has come up against opposition from Britain, the United States and France, all permanent members of the Security Council who have signalled they may veto any deferral of the indictment without major concessions from Sudan.

Arab and African states say an indictment would harm prospects for bringing peace to Darfur.

Alor said Washington was pushing Sudan to make concrete moves towards settling conflicts in Darfur and other flashpoints in Sudan.

"The Europeans ... are also asking the government of Sudan to hold direct or indirect talks with the ICC as a condition for any discussion on deferral," the minister added.



PEACE PLAN

Sudan's government has still not decided on how best to engage with the global court, he said. But it was hoping the new peace initiatives would be enough to persuade the three countries not to use their vetoes, he added.

The new initiatives have been drawn up by a high-level Sudan People's Forum of ministers, officials and opposition figures brought together by Bashir weeks after the ICC announcement. Darfur rebels boycotted the forum.

A copy of the forum's main report, seen by Reuters, recommends the government call a unilateral ceasefire, release political prisoners, compensate displaced Darfuris and change the constitution to create a vice-presidential post for Darfur.

Sudan's government still has to adopt the recommendations, which are the latest in a series of promised ceasefires and proposed peace plans announced during more than five years of fighting in Sudan's remote west.

But they are likely to become government policy, as Bashir's dominant National Congress Party had already agreed to be bound by the forum's recommendations.

Sudan's neighbour Egypt on Tuesday said it was also working to defer the indictment. China and Russia, both permanent Security Council members, together with the Arab League and the African Union, have all signalled they would support a deferral.

Mostly non-Arab rebels took up arms in Darfur in 2003 accusing Khartoum of neglect. In response, the Sudanese government mobilised mostly Arab militias which were accused of carrying out widespread murder, rape and other abuses. (Editing by Matthew Tostevin)