China "concerned" at Sudan genocide charge

By Chris Buckley

BEIJING (Reuters) - China expressed "grave concern" on Tuesday after the International Criminal Court's prosecutor charged Sudan's President Omar Hassan al-Bashir with genocide in Darfur.

In Khartoum, the United Nations told its staff to stay at home as thousands of Sudanese rallied in support of Bashir.

Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo on Monday asked the ICC for an arrest warrant for Bashir, accusing him of running a campaign of genocide that has killed 35,000 people and forced 2.5 million to flee their homes in Sudan's western region.

Sudan's vice president, Ali Osman Mohamed Taha, called the ICC's move "irresponsible, illegal and unprofessional".

China, a main investor in Sudan's oil industry and Khartoum's biggest arms supplier, also criticized the move.

"China expresses grave concern and misgivings about the International Criminal Court prosecutor's indictment of the Sudanese leader," Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Liu Jianchao said at a regular news conference in Beijing.

"The ICC's actions must be beneficial to the stability of the Darfur region and the appropriate settlement of the issue, not the contrary," Liu said.

China faces difficult choices over its relationship with Bashir just as the Beijing Olympics opens a soft spot for international pressure.

Beijing has sought to balance its energy and political interests in Sudan with its desire for a respected seat at the table in Darfur peace efforts.

Some Western countries have called for respecting the ICC's decisions. "We are committed to cooperating with the international court and we should strengthen its work by not criticizing it," said German Chancellor Angela Merkel in Berlin at a news conference with U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

In Washington, U.S. President George W. Bush said Bashir's cooperation was necessary to ensure that more U.N. and African Union forces were sent to Darfur.

"The United Nations needs to work with this current government to get those troops in to help save lives, an AU hybrid force," he said, referring to the joint mission that took over peacekeeping in Darfur in January under a plan to deploy a total of 20,000 soldiers and 6,000 police.

Liu confirmed that 172 Chinese engineers would head to Darfur on Wednesday, bringing all of its 315 promised peacekeepers into place.

BALANCING ACT

The ICC prosecutor's accusations makes that balancing act harder, with all sides waiting to see if Beijing will seek to suspend the legal action via a U.N. Security Council decision.