The pre-trial court, which is examining the evidence against Bashir, is expected to give its decision in two to three months. So far, it has signed all the 11 warrants sought by the prosecutor. The human rights groups believe that Bashir might be more amenable to a peace deal in Darfur as the Court evaluated the evidence to avoid the issuance of arrest warrants.

The UN Security Council had asked ICC to investigate the crimes in Darfur in 2005 and diplomats said the western governments apparently provided intelligence including satellite surveillance to enable Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to build the case.

The Council can call for delay in investigation or prosecution for at least one year if it so decides to give chance to peace talks to succeed.

Diplomats from China and Russia said they were opposed to any immediate action against Bashir.

The Human Rights groups have welcomed the ICC’s decision but diplomats at the United Nations are worried. The reaction of human rights group is based on the calculation that Bashir would try to pursue the peace talks more vigorously to avoid action but several diplomats are not so sure. The situation in Sudan is quite different, they argue, and the government is fairly well entrenched.

•What is the Darfur conflict in which President Bashir of Sudan has been accused of genocide and war crimes?

Darfur is a region in western Sudan. For over five years now, rebels there have been fighting against Sudanese government troops and a government-backed Arab militia called the Janjaweed. In the five years, the UN estimates at least 400,000 people have been killed and two million displaced.

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