Darfur War Crimes Charges Meet Opposition

African envoys sought support Wednesday from Russia and China for ways to let Sudan's president dodge a global court prosecutor's Darfur war crimes charges.

"The search for justice should not jeopardize the other priorities in Sudan," South African Ambassador Dumisani Kumalo said.

The Security Council's private discussions took place against a backdrop of fresh violence.

Gunmen in the troubled Sudanese region of Darfur shot and killed another United Nations-African Union peacekeeper Wednesday, just as the council voted to condemn the killing of seven Darfur peacekeepers a week ago as a possible war crime.

The latest attack left a Nigerian company commander dead in Forobaranga in West Darfur while he was on patrol not far from a U.N.-A.U. peacekeeping camp, U.N. officials said.

Sudan, South Africa and China expressed concern that indicting Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir could further damage the peace process, diplomats said.

Some Western diplomats and U.N. officials also say they fear an arrest warrant against al-Bashir could unleash reprisals against the peacekeeping mission in Darfur, known as UNAMID.

But to many, that peace process already is withering, and the mission has virtually no peace to keep.

"The peace process has been stalled for the last few months," British Ambassador John Sawers said. "There's an urgent need for renewed effort on the peace process side. And UNAMID can only ever deliver on its mission properly once there is a peace to keep."

International Criminal Court prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo filed 10 charges Monday against al-Bashir related to a campaign of extermination the U.N. says has claimed 300,000 lives and driven 2.5 million people from their homes.

Moreno-Ocampo, based at The Hague, Netherlands, said survivors are preyed upon by government-backed janjaweed Arab militia and regular troops. It could take judges months to rule on whether to issue an arrest warrant.

Sudanese Ambassador Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed said some African diplomats were discussing with China and Russia ways of persuading the 15-nation Security Council to block Moreno-Ocampo's work for a year. Neither China's nor Russia's diplomats commented publicly Wednesday.

The council had asked the court in 2005 to investigate the Darfur crisis.

Last week seven U.N.-A.U. peacekeepers were killed and at least another 19 wounded in Darfur during an ambush by about 200 gunmen on horseback and in SUVs.

The council on Wednesday strongly condemned the July 8 attack as "premeditated, deliberate and intended to inflict casualties," and said that attacks on U.N. peacekeepers during armed conflicts "can constitute war crimes."

Fighting erupted in Darfur in 2003 when ethnic African rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated central government, accusing it of discrimination.

In addition to less-than-adequate cooperation from the Sudanese government, the U.S. and other governments haven't provided the force with the needed attack and transport helicopters.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the council in a report that he is "deeply disappointed" by the situation, but he still set the ambitious goal of doubling the number of peacekeeping troops to 80 percent of its authorized strength by year's end.

As of June there were 11,359 personnel in Darfur - two-thirds of them soldiers - as part of the peacekeeping mission, which is authorized to have 26,000 troops, police, civilians and other personnel, Ban reported.

But this week about 130 "nonessential" civilians were withdraw in the face of deteriorating security, according to U.N. peacekeeping officials.

Syria Criticizes War Crimes Charges Against Sudan's President

Syria on Wednesday strongly criticized the accusations fielded by the ICC's chief prosecutor al-Bashir for his alleged role in Darfur, reports CBS News correspondent George Baghdadi.

An official statement by the Foreign Ministry carried by the state-run SANA News Agency said Foreign Minister Walid al-Moallem told the Sudanese ambassador in Damascus that Syria denounced the accusations forwarded by the ICC chief prosecutor against "an elected President who enjoys immunity."

The statement said the ICC move did "not fall under its authorities or jurisdiction … It is a serious unprecedented event in the history of the international relations. This move should not be allowed to be passed as it aims at destabilizing the situation in Sudan and foiling attempts to bring peace in Darfur."

It added that Mr. al-Moallem also phoned the head of the African Union Commission, Jean Ping, and expressed appreciation of the stance taken by the AUC in condemning the ICC motion. The two sides discussed how to make "concerted efforts to stand by the brotherly country of Sudan."

The Arab Foreign Ministers are due to meet in Cairo on Saturday, with the participation of al-Moallem, to discuss the ICC's move against al-Bashir.