| And considers diplomatic ties with Israel too! |
An independent south Sudan would consider joining the International Criminal Court, a tribunal which has indicted Sudan's president for war crimes and genocide, according to a southern minister.| Not Jimmy Swaggart presumably. |
Asked whether south Sudan would join the ICC, the minister for regional cooperation, Deng Alor, said: "Why not? We don't have a problem with the ICC.
"The ICC is about human rights. We fought for over 40 years for human rights -- we will see the procedure and definitely they will contact us or we will contact them and we will have no problem," he said late on Tuesday.
ICC membership would require the south to arrest Sudan's Omar Hassan al-Bashir if he entered its territory.
Sudan's north has planned to retain close ties with an independent south, but Khartoum rejects any recognition or even discussionof the ICC. Membership for the south would restrict travel for Bashir and strain relations.And just when we thought the region was going to become tranquil stable semi-tolerable. |
Alor said it was too early to decide whether south Sudan would establish diplomatic relations with Israel, which the Islamic government of the north regards as an enemy state.
"We don't have a problem with Israel. If our national interest demands that we establish diplomatic relations, we will do, but we cannot make this decision now." |