The African leaders went beyond words and asked the Sudanese leader to accept a team of lawyers from the African Union (AU) and the Arab League to help bring perpetrators of the violence in Darfur and help carry out investigations there.+soldiers.jpg)
In this photo released by the United Nations Mission in Sudan (UNMIS), Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) soldiers parade during the fourth anniversary celebrations of the signing of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, ending more than two decades of civil war, in Malakal, southern Sudan, Friday, Jan. 9, 2009. Sudan's embattled president marked the fourth anniversary of a fragile peace between the country's north and south, promising on Friday to restore confidence in national unity even as he faces accusations by an international court for war crimes in Darfur.
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki is expected to lead a panel of lawyers to investigate human rights violations in Darfur and recommend measures to be taken against the perpetrators.
African leaders made an attempt to rescue President el-Bashir from an impending arrest by the International Criminal Court (ICC) but the United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon distanced himself from the move.
The UN Secretary-General who attended the meeting of the African leaders, said the issuance of an arrest warrant if the ICC decides on the matter, was solely an issue that he could not interfere with and asked Sudan to fully cooperate.
The African leaders said steps must be taken to address human rights violations in Darfur and reiterated calls made by the AU that the Sudan must take concrete steps to investigate the human rights violations in Darfur and stop abuses.
African leaders were adamant on the need to have a year-long stay of the arrest warrant to allow for the setting up of an independent justice system for Darfur.
They agreed to support Sudan to set an independent system of dealing with the ab uses as a substitute for the ICC process.
"We just adopted the resolutions asking for the recall of the decision," African Union Commission Chairperson Jean Ping told a news conference at the end of the four-day meeting of the African leaders, one of the longest meetings held by the leaders to try to solve a set of issues.
The AU announced ahead of the Summit that it was taking immediate steps to seek a delay of the execution of an arrest warrant against the Sudanese leader for at least 12 months under certain parts of the ICC statute.
The delay would allow for the putting in place of a mechanism to try Darfur war crimes suspects.
"The suspension we were asking for was recalled," Ping said in a brief answer to a question on whether the African leaders considered the issue of rescuing the Sudanese leader from the ICC arrest warrant.
Ban said the Sudanese leader must cooperate with the ICC on his case and ensure the protection of the civilians, the foreign troops in Darfur and ensure the "faithful" implementation of the north-south peace accord.
The new AU Chairman Muammar Kadhafi said the Sudanese leader must fully cooperate in the search for a solution to the Darfurian crisis.
The Libyan leader said he would take over the issue of the crisis in Darfur during his chairmanship of the organization, saying the AU remained an organization whose power was mainly drawn from the "social force" that has been pushing African leaders towards political unity.
In his first warning to the Sudanese leader, Kadhafi said the Sudanese government must work to fully conform with the demands and aspirations of the AU.
"Sudan must apply the constitutive Act of the AU. If they violate it, they will be penalized," he said.
In the draft decisions taken at the Summit, the African leaders had suggested that the UN Security Council should seek a deferment of the arrest warrant to allow the Peace and Security Council of the African Union to examine the crisis in depth through the setting up of a justice panel.
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