Activists and members of various Egyptian political parties proposed the creation of an “Arab and Islamic criminal court” to prosecute the crimes committed by world “powers”, starting from US and Israeli. The proposal was made at a seminar held at the media union headquarter in Cairo, after which a statement was released expressing support to Sudan’s President Omar al Bashir, who faces an arrest warrant issued last week by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for “war crimes and crimes against humanity” in the Darfur region. “The Arab criminal court could prosecute the crimes committed against the Palestinians by the Israeli leaders and those committed against the people of Iraq by the former US administration of George W. Bush”, said Mustafa Moussa, head of the ‘Al Ghad’ party (Tomorrow), specifying that a petition will be presented to the Egyptian parliament to promote the initiative. Moussa added that the court will not begin works immediately, stressing the urgency to “draw up an updated report on the crimes committed in Arab nations by foreign governments”. The ‘Al Ghad’ leader, spokesperson of the initiative, explained that “in case of indictment, the accused should face arrest on entering the territory or air space of any Arab nations”. The ICC decision against al Bashir, taken based on charges filed by the court’s chief prosecutor Luis Moreno Ocampo, was widely criticised by Arab and African nations that denounced the “double standards” of the international court in judging African and Arab political leaders, ignoring the crimes committed by the world “powers” in Iraq, Afghanistan and Palestinian Occupied Territories.
[BO]