The International Criminal Court issued on Wednesday its first arrest warrants for a Sudanese government minister and a militia leader suspected of committing war crimes in Darfur.

A pre-trial chamber made the decision after it found "there are reasonable grounds to believe" that Ahmad Harun, former Interior Minister of Sudan and currently Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, and Ali Kushayb, a militia leader, were intentionally involved in the commissions of war crimes in Darfur, the Hague-based court said on its website.

In February, prosecutors for the ICC named Harun and Kushayb as the first suspects for war crimes in the Darfur conflict, which flared in early 2003 after rebels took up arms against the Sudanese government.

The two suspects were jointly responsible for 51 counts of alleged crimes against humanity and war crimes committed against civilians in Darfur between 2003 and 2004, according to the prosecution document.

The warrant of arrest for Harun listed 42 counts on the basis of his individual criminal responsibility and 50 counts for Kushayb, the Court said.

The Court's Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo also called on the Sudanese government to cooperate in arrest and surrender of the two suspects.

Source: Xinhua