The Sudanese government on Wednesday rejected arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court (ICC) against two suspects accused of war crimes in the western Sudanese region of Darfur.

"The ICC has no jurisdiction to prosecute any Sudanese," Sudanese Justice Minister Mohamed Ali Al-Mardi told Xinhua, citing that his country did not sign the Rome Convention of 1980 on the establishment of the ICC.

"Our position is clear and any measure taken by the ICC does not mean anything for us," Al-Mardi asserted.

He considered the ICC warrants came in the framework of continuous pressures on Sudan, saying the warrants had "political prints."

The ICC on Wednesday announced their first arrest warrants for Ahmed Haroun, former state minister of interior, and militia commander Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb, accusing them of committing war crimes.

The ICC said in a statement that Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo had found "reasonable grounds to believe" the two suspects were responsible for murder, rape, and torture, as well as the forced displacement of villages, and other war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur.

"The government of the Sudan has a legal duty to arrest Ahmed Haroun and Ali Kushayb," the court said.

Source: Xinhua