(GIN) – An international arrest warrant issued this week against Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir has set off a flood of criticism over the move from African leaders and other rights activists worldwide.
 
In the warrant, the Sudanese leader is accused of 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes in the western region of Darfur. Chief prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, signed the warrant.
 
quot;You can't arrest Beshir. Who's going to arrest him?" South Africa’s deputy foreign minister Aziz Pahad queried reporters at a pres conference.&         Omar al-Beshir
 
Speaking on behalf of the African Union, Tanzanian Foreign Minister Bernard Membe urged the ICC to suspend its decision on whether to seek Mr Bashir's arrest until problems in Darfur were resolved.
 
“We fear the International Criminal Court is losing its way…” wrote Julie Flint and Alex de Waal,” in a recent Washington Post news article. “Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo's approach is fraught with risk -- for the victims of the atrocities in Darfur, for the prospects for peace in Sudan and for the prosecution itself.”
 
“Darfur residents need peace, security and deliverable justice more than they need a moment of jubilation. And with President Omar Hassan al-Bashir and his men still in power, a high-level indictment would probably damage all these objectives.”
 
“Many in the Middle East and elsewhere will ask if this is a new form of racism and colonialism that applies different standards of accountability for different countries,”wrote Lebanese editor Rami G. Khouri
 
Sudan has called for an emergency meeting of the Arab League to discuss the issue.
 
The arrest warrant is a first by The Hague-based tribunal to charge a sitting head of state with war crimes.
 
Khartoum has condemned the ICC move as "criminal".