ICC Opens Hearing on Militia Leader Accused of Darfur War Crimes

WASHINGTON - The International Criminal Court has begun hearing evidence against Sudanese para-military commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-Al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, the alleged leader of a notorious militia blamed for atrocities in Sudan’s Darfur region.

The hearing will determine if there is enough evidence to proceed to trial on one or more of the 31 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity Kushayb is facing. During her presentation Monday, Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda called Ali Kushayb a "willing and energetic" perpetrator of crimes committed in 2003 and 2004 as Sudan’s central government tried to crush an insurgency in Darfur. Kushayb was arrested after he surrendered himself to authorities in the Central African Republic last year and was transferred to the ICC in the Hague. The court had issued a warrant for Kushayb’s arrest in April 2007.