AU seeks to block charges against Sudan leader

By Barry Malone

ADDIS ABABA (Reuters) - The African Union urged the U.N. Security Council on Monday to put on hold the International Criminal Court's move to indict Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir over war crimes in Darfur.

The call, after a meeting of the African Union Peace and Security Council in Ethiopia, followed a similar appeal by the Arab League and boosted Khartoum's diplomatic efforts to block any indictment.

The international court's prosecutor has asked for a warrant for Bashir on suspicion of masterminding crimes against humanity in Darfur. The crisis over the possible indictment has raised fears for the fragile peace process in Africa's biggest state.

"The African Union requests the U.N. Security Council...to defer the process initiated by the ICC," the AU council said in a statement after the meeting, which was called by Sudan.

It said it had taken into account the need to avoid jeopardizing peace efforts and "the fact that in the current circumstances a prosecution may not be in the interests of victims and justice."

The African Union role could be key because the U.N. resolution which referred Darfur to the international court in 2005 emphasized the need for cooperation with the bloc.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accuses Bashir of orchestrating a genocide that has killed 35,000 people outright, at least another 100,000 through "slow death" and forced 2.5 million from their homes.

ARAB LEAGUE PLAN

The Arab League has already criticized the court and the regional group's head, Amr Moussa, said he had secured Khartoum's agreement to an action plan to resolve the crisis.

He and Sudanese officials declined to give details of the plan.

"There is a positive result. It involves direct communications with the U.N. and the AU," Moussa told reporters after two days of meetings with Sudanese officials and opposition politicians.

"We are now engaged in a situation where a major crisis threatens to derail all the peace processes in Sudan, which is a matter which we want to avoid," he added.

The African Union meeting called for a panel of distinguished Africans to make recommendations on how to address issues of accountability and reconciliation raised by the Darfur conflict.

Khartoum has emphasized that it will pursue diplomacy over the court's moves rather than encouraging any violent backlash.

Street protests against the court have been held almost daily in Sudan, but they have been small and without the heavy government backing evident at some past demonstrations. A "million man march" planned on Monday was cancelled.