GCC Secretary General makes statement

Riyadh, July 22, SPA -- Secretary-General of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) Abdulrahman bin Hamad Al-Atiyyah emphasized that the GCC Council supports procedures and measures taken by the Sudanese government to establish peace in Darfur region in order to preserve the unity, integration, stability and sovereignty of the Sudanese territories, expressing at the same time his displeasure of the accusations filed by International Criminal Court against Sudan'sPresident Omer Al-Basheir.

"At the time we appreciate the noble purposes that should be sought by international justice, we confirm that we are not going to accept at the same time any judicial allegations which exceed the strictadherence of the international law", the Secretariat General said.

In a press conference, Al-Atiyyah added that it was unreasonable that any judicial body claims that it is specialized in war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and crimes of aggression will take actions and measures for its alleged crimes at any location, at atime when it ignores crimes fixed in other locations.

He expressed his conviction that the international justice should not be operated in isolation from the efforts of peaceful settlement, stressing the commitment of the GCC Council for the provisions ofinternational humanitarian law in armed conflicts.