KHARTOUM, Sudan (AFP)--Senior Darfur rebels vowed full cooperation with the International Criminal Court but denied they were implicated after its prosecutor demanded arrest warrants against three commanders Thursday.
The Justice and Equality Movement said it cooperated with chief ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo's efforts to bring a case against Darfur rebels after requesting an indictment of Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir.
"We support its procedures against al-Bashir, so JEM is in favor of the ICC," the London-based chairman of the group's legislative assembly, Tahir el-Faki, told AFP by telephone.
"We will cooperate with Ocampo to achieve justice for the people, even if some of our commanders have been implicated," he said.
In a report to the U.N. Security Council in June, Moreno-Ocampo said he had information that two rebel splinter factions carried out the attack in which 12 African peacekeepers were killed and another eight wounded at Haskanita.
"I will not let such attacks go unpunished," Moreno-Ocampo said.
Faki said: "We know exactly who the perpetrators are. I can't say anything about that, but I reassure you that JEM is not implicated in Haskanita."
Although some Darfur rebel commanders didn't answer their satellite phones Thursday, three contacted by AFP denied being on Moreno-Ocampo's wanted list.
"We are ready to go to any place if he wants us. Really. Why would he want us? For justice. We are here, in the field, for justice," said Abu Bakr Kadu, a commander in the Sudan Liberation Army-Unity (SLA-Unity) movement.
The ICC hasn't published the names of the wanted men, saying it may hamper the execution of the warrants.
"This is confidential information, because we assess that the best way to ensure they appear before the court is to keep their names confidential for a while," Moreno-Ocampo told AFP in The Hague, where the court is based.
"Many rebel leaders have said that if the court calls them they will appear. While the judges decide on the warrants, they now have the chance to appear on their own accord. They know who they are."
Ahmed Abdel Shafie, who heads another SLA faction, said: "We condemned any action against the peacekeeping force and the innocents, no matter from which side the perpetrators. We facilitate handing over any person who is indicted to be a criminal."
"As a movement we are not part of any crimes of that kind," Shafie said insisting he had "no idea" who was involved.
"Everyone is innocent until proven guilty," he added.
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(END) Dow Jones Newswires
November 20, 2008 09:45 ET (14:45 GMT)

Publié le 20 novembre 2008 Copyright © 2008 Dowjones