The International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor has named the first two suspects accused of committing war crimes in Sudan's Darfur region.
Chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked pre-trial judges to issue summonses for Ahmed Haroun, state interior minister during the height of the Darfur conflict, and militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb.
Haroun is currently Sudan's state humanitarian affairs minister, a post below the full ministerial level. Prosecutors said Kushayb was a commander of the Janjaweed militia who led attacks on towns and villages, where dozens were killed.
In a 94-page filing, ICC prosecutors accused the two of criminal responsibility in relation to 51 counts of alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes in 2003 and 2004, and urged Khartoum to make sure the suspects appear at the court.
Experts say some 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million others driven from their homes in Darfur since 2003, when rebels took up arms against the government, charging it with neglect. Khartoum says about 9,000 people have died.
U.N. and African Union observers blame pro-government militias for the worst atrocities. The Sudanese government has denied arming the Janjaweed, which it describes as outlaws.
Sudan said the ICC had no right to try the suspects and questioned the evidence gathered by its investigators, but human rights groups welcomed the move.
"The clear message from these prosecutions is that the world is watching, and the high and mighty are not immune," said Gareth Evans of the Brussels-based International Crisis Group.
Asked if he expected to name further suspects, Moreno-Ocampo would only say investigations were continuing and noted his office was monitoring the spill-over of violence from Darfur into Chad and the Central African Republic.
He said fighting in Darfur made investigations difficult, but his team had taken 100 witness statements in 17 countries.
The prosecutor said the evidence collected showed Haroun funded the Janjaweed from an unlimited budget that was not publicly audited and was seen personally delivering arms, ammunition and well-guarded boxes to the militia in Darfur.
He said Kushayb was seen giving orders to the Janjaweed, personally inspecting a group of naked women before they were raped by men in military uniforms and personally participating in summary executions, one involving at least 32 men.
Haroun's office said he was in Jordan this week for medical treatment but would be returning to Sudan shortly.
Sudan's justice minister said Kushayb had been in Sudanese custody since November on suspicion of violating Sudanese laws and was under investigation for actions in Darfur.
The U.N. Security Council asked the ICC in March 2005 to launch an investigation into the violence in Darfur, which the United States has called genocide, a charge Khartoum denies.
The charges against the two suspects do not include genocide, but Moreno-Ocampo said he could not rule out that this might be included in future investigations.
The ICC, the world's first permanent war crimes court, started work in 2002 and is now supported by 104 nations, although still not by Russia, China and the United States.