First time ever that a Chief of Government or President is indicted and an arrest warrant is issued for his capture

• China urges court to rethink Sudan arrest warrant
• Russia calls for restraint on al-Bashir
• UN pulls staff from Darfur after world court move

The Hague, July 14 (AP).— The prosecutor of the International Criminal Court filed genocide charges Monday against Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, accusing him of masterminding attempts to wipe out African tribes in Darfur with a campaign of murder, rape and deportation.

The filing marked the first time prosecutors at the world's first permanent, global war crimes court have issued charges against a sitting head of state, but al-Bashir is unlikely to be sent to The Hague any time soon. Sudan rejects the court's jurisdiction, and senior Sudanese officials said the prosecutor was politically motivated to file the charges.

Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked a three-judge panel at the International Criminal Court to issue an arrest warrant for al-Bashir to prevent the slow deaths of some 2.5 million people forced from their homes in Darfur and still under attack from government-backed janjaweed militia.

"Genocide is a crime of intention — we don't need to wait until these 2.5 million die", he told The Associated Press.

Chinese authorities have ruthlessly restored order in Tibet

July 10.-  As President Hu Jintao was feted at the G8 summit in Japan, China secured two important affirmative RSVPs to the opening of the Olympic games in Beijing next month. George Bush was never likely to be a party-pooper. But France’s president, Nicolas Sarkozy, had suggested his attendance hinged on China’s behaviour in Tibet. He, too, will turn up, bearing tribute to China’s growing sporting, commercial and diplomatic clout.

Over Taiwan, the progress is more than symbolic. The opening of regular charter flights across the Taiwan Strait, allowing thousands of mainland tourists to visit the island, is the most important of a number of confidence-building measures since the victory of Ma Ying-jeou and his China-leaning party, the Kuomintang (KMT), in the presidential election in March ( see article ). After the bellicose sniping at the pro-independence administration of Chen Shui-bian, China seems positively lovey-dovey towards his successor.

•   Former Czech President Vaclav Havel regrets the ex-communist states' failure to complete the revolution of 1989 by reforming post-communism or eliminating the domination of former communists in positions of economic power, he says in an interview for Britain's Financial Times out today

July 6.- [Former Pres. Havel explains] that the fight continues with popular revolts' victories in Ukraine and Georgia, and more sedate gains in Central Europe.

"As the young generation grows up, society needs to rid itself of the power of the people deformed by communism, people who had succeeded in quickly establishing themselves in the new regimes and in occupying various powerful positions," the daily quotes Havel as saying.
...

Havel does not hide his disappointment at ex-communist societies following the west in embracing globalisation and rampant consumerism, the interviewer, Stefan Wagstyl, writes.