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Bashir genocide court ruling due Bashir genocide court ruling due
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Appeal judges at the International Criminal Court are to decide whether Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir should be charged with genocide. The International Criminal Court is due to decide whether Sudan President Omar al-Bashir should face genocide charges over the Darfur conflict.
In issuing its first arrest warrant against a sitting head of state, the ICC said Mr Bashir could be held responsible for war crimes in Darfur. Prosecutors have been pushing for the charge since last year, when judges issued a warrant on war crimes but said evidence of genocide was lacking.
But the Hague court earlier rejected the prosecution's request to include charges of genocide. African and Arab leaders have rallied around Mr Bashir and several nations have refused to honour the warrant.
The prosecution appealed and judges will rule on this on Wednesday. The UN says 300,000 people have died in the Darfur conflict since 2003.
The International Criminal Court found there was enough evidence to believe that the Sudanese president was responsible for murder, extermination, torture, rape and attacks against civilians in Darfur. In addition, some 2.7 million were forced to flee from their homes, according to aid agencies.
The warrant did not include the most serious war crime of genocide as the judges found there was not enough evidence to believe the government of Sudan intended to destroy the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups. But the BBC's James Copnall, in Khartoum, says Sudanese officials reacted angrily when the ICC issued its initial arrest warrant for Mr Bashir last March.
Whether or not the court decides to include genocide in the warrant, the Sudanese president could continue to evade arrest. Thirteen foreign organisations were expelled and fired-up crowds attended rallies to cheer the president.
The ICC has no police force, and relies on the obligation of states themselves to ensure suspects are sent to The Hague to face international justice. Our correspondent says Mr Bashir may even have grown in popularity, with many Sudanese seeing the court's decision as an affront to national sovereignty.
'Two-speed' justice
Mr Bashir has avoided arrest thanks to support from other leaders - since the warrant was issued he has visited Qatar, Ethiopia and Zimbabwe, among other nations.
And the African Union has consistently supported him.
The AU's most senior diplomat, Jean Ping, has once again hit out at the ICC in the run-up to its decision, accusing the court of targeting African nations.
"We are not for a justice with two speeds, a double standard justice - one for the poor, one for the rich; one for big nations and one for small nations," he said.
Mr Bashir's government is accused of backing Arab militias who killed thousands of black African Darfuris.
Mr Bashir has repeatedly said he had no control over the actions of people on the ground in Darfur at the height of the violence in 2003 and 2004.
In issuing their warrant last year, the ICC judges found there was not enough evidence to believe his government intended to destroy the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa ethnic groups.