UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — International Criminal Court chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo vowed Thursday to prosecute Darfur rebel commanders alleged responsible for the killing of 10 African Union (AU) troops in the Sudanese region last year.
Four days after he accused Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir of masterminding a genocidal campaign in strife-torn Darfur, Ocampo told reporters here that he was turning his attention to Darfur rebels.
He said the ICC had the names of "the alleged perpetrators" of a rebel attack on a camp of AU peacekeepers in Haskanita, south Darfur last September.
"We have information about the names of two commanders who were allegedly responsible for this," Ocampo said here before attending a ceremony marking the 10th anniversary of the Rome Statute that set up the ICC.
"We have to prove the case," he added. "I like to use this meeting to call on the rebels to provide evidence and ...stop any crime."
"The rebels have to control their people and they have to help the court, to provide intelligence against those who commit the attack in Haskanita and even arrest them," Ocampo said.
He made clear that "any attack against peacekeepers is a crime under my jurisdiction", including the July 8 attack in north Darfur that left seven UN-African Union peacekeepers dead and 22 other wounded.
The ICC is the world's first permanent tribunal for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity,
In March 2005, the UN Security Council asked the office of the ICC prosecutor to probe crimes committed in Darfur since July 2002.
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