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20 May 2009 Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, a Sudanese
rebel leader, has appeared before an international
court to face war crimes charges over an attack that
killed 12 African Union (AU) peacekeepers in Darfur.
Abu Garda, the head of the United Resistance Front,
is the first suspect to appear before the
International Criminal Court in The Hague, regarding
the Darfur conflict.
Abu Garda, 46, turned himself in voluntarily on Sunday
to face the charges of murder, pillaging and attacking
peacekeepers during an attack in September 2007 -
charges he denies.
Other Sudanese government officials, including Omar
al-Bashir, the country's president, have been charged
with war crimes by the court, but refuse to
acknowledge its jurisdiction.
Cuno Tarfusser, the court judge, thanked Abu Garda for
surrendering.
"The court appreciates very much your volunteer
appearance," Tarfusser told Abu Garda at the start of
proceedings on Monday. "You have sent out a very good
message."
'Most serious attack'
In November 2008, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the court's
chief prosecutor, requested arrest warrants for three
Darfur rebels, including Abu Garda, over the attack at
the Haskanita AU camp that killed 12 soldiers and
seriously wounded eight others.
Moreno-Ocampo had described the act as "the most
serious attack against peacekeepers in Darfur".
Alongside two other rebel leaders whose names have not
been revealed, Abu Garda is accused of commanding
about 1,000 men in a convoy of 30 vehicles mounted
with heavy weapons to attack the peacekeepers.
Last November Abu Garda said he was prepared to go to
The Hague, saying: "I will go, no problem. I know I
was not involved".
The rebel leader arrived in the Netherlands on Sunday
from Egypt, before being taken to an undisclosed
location under court authority.
The UN says more than a million people have been
displaced and up to 30,000 people have died in Darfur
due to the conflict, but Khartoum says 9,000 people
have been killed. -- Agencies
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