On 28 August 2007, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Luis Moreno-Ocampo, declared that the Sudanese Government has not been cooperating on the arrests of two suspects wanted for crimes against humanity and war crimes perpetrated in Darfur. The Prosecutor called on Khartoum to cooperate immediately with the Court. On 2 May 2007, Pre-Trial Chamber I of the ICC issued warrants of arrest for Ahmad Muhammad Harun, the former Sudanese Minister of State for the Interior, and Ali Muhammad Al Abd-Al-Rahman (Ali Kushayb), a leader of the Militia/Janjaweed. Moreno-Ocampo said that it is “totally unacceptable” that Harun, whom was “coordinating actions to remove people from their own villages and push them into IDP [internally displaced person] camps”, is currently the Minister of Humanitarian Affairs.

Moreno-Ocampo and his staff are trying to determine the location of the two suspects, particularly now that Interpol has issued a red notice (seeking the arrest or provisional arrest of wanted persons with a view to extradition) for Harun. However, Moreno-Ocampo stressed that “the responsibility to execute the warrant is for the Government of Sudan”, and that if the Sudanese Government does not take action, he would inform the Security Council of it in his next report.

Ahmad Harun served from 2003 to 2005 as Minister of State for the Interior and was in charge of managing the ‘Darfur Security Desk’. He is charged on the basis of individual criminal responsibility with 20 counts of crimes against humanity and 22 counts of war crimes. Ali Kushayb was one of the most senior leaders in the Militia/Janjaweed and member of the Popular Defence Force. He is charged on the basis of individual criminal responsibility with 22 counts of crimes against humanity and 28 counts of war crimes.

UN News Centre