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ICC rejects Darfur rebel charges | ICC rejects Darfur rebel charges |
(10 minutes later) | |
The first Darfur war crimes suspect to face international judges has had the charges against him dropped. | |
Rebel leader Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, who gave himself up last year, had been accused of planning the killing of 12 African Union peacekeepers in 2007. | |
But International Criminal Court (ICC) judges ruled that there was not enough evidence to support a trial. | |
Last week, the ICC said charges of genocide against Sudan's President Omar al-Bashir could be resubmitted. | |
Mr Bashir is already wanted for war crimes. | |
Attack denounced | |
Mr Abu Garda was a senior member of the Justice and Equality Movement (Jem) - the main rebel group fighting militias that many suspect are government backed. | |
He left Jem in 2008 and formed his own group, the United Resistance Front. | |
The chamber declines to confirm the charges against Mr Abu Garda ICC judges Chad leader in Darfur peace talks | |
Mr Abu Garda has always denied being part of the attack on the peacekeepers. | |
He told the court during a pre-trial hearing last year that he had denounced the attack at the time as serving the interests only of the Sudanese government. | |
On Monday, the judges said in a statement: "The chamber declines to confirm the charges against Mr Abu Garda." | |
But they added that prosecutors were still free to bring more evidence which could yet lead to prosecution. | |
The UN estimates that 300,000 people have died in Darfur since the conflict began in 2003. | |
Some 2.7 million have been displaced. |