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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expects Sudan to ensure the safety of U.N. staff there despite charges against the country's president by the International Criminal Court prosecutor, the United Nations said on Monday.
Ban "expects that the Government of Sudan will continue to cooperate fully with the United Nations in Sudan, while fulfilling its obligation to ensure the safety and security of all United Nations personnel and property," said a statement issued by his spokeswoman Michele Montas.
ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo charged Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on Monday with masterminding a campaign of genocide in Darfur, killing 35,000 people and using rape as a weapon of war. He asked the court for an arrest warrant for Bashir.
Ban's statement, issued in Paris where he is on a visit, said the court "is an independent institution and that the United Nations must respect the independence of the judicial process."
U.N. peacekeeping missions in Sudan would continue to work "in an impartial manner, cooperating in good faith with all partners so as to further the goal of peace and stability in the country," it said. U.N. humanitarian and development work would also continue.
Some 9,000 U.N. and African Union peacekeepers are deployed in Darfur. There is also a separate 10,000-strong U.N. force monitoring a peace agreement between northern and southern Sudan, as well as civilian aid workers.
Khartoum, which is not a party to the ICC, said it did not recognize Moreno-Ocampo's statement, but pledged to continue with peace moves in Darfur and said it would protect U.N. staff.
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