PARIS, Sept 19 (Reuters) - France said on Friday that Sudan should end the Darfur crisis regardless of international moves to indict Sudan's president for war crimes. France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert told reporters this week that Paris might be open to the idea of freezing any eventual action by the International Criminal Court provided Sudan met specific conditions regarding Darfur. But the French Foreign Ministry said in a statement on Friday that it was not linking the two issues. "France wants the ICC procedures to be respected," it said. "France is not leading any negotiations." In July, ICC chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court's judges to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for war crimes in Sudan's conflict-ravaged Darfur region. Moreno-Ocampo accused the Sudanese leader of launching a campaign of genocide in 2003 that has killed 35,000 people outright, at least 100,000 more through starvation and disease and forced 2.5 million from their homes. Although the ICC judges are not expected to make a decision before October or November, officials from some Western governments have been saying privately that issuing a warrant for Bashir's arrest might do more harm than good. The French Foreign Ministry said that regardless of the ICC actions, it wanted Sudan to help ease the Darfur crisis by calling an immediate ceasefire, taking part in political talks with rival camps and normalising relations with neighbour Chad. (Reporting by Crispian Balmer; Editing by Angus MacSwan)
Relatives of Major Shalva Dolidze, a commander of 1st Battalion of 4th Brigade of Georgian Army killed in the conflict with South Ossetia, attend a memorial service at the cemetery in ...
