By JOHN HEILPRIN, Associated Press Writer Thu Jul 31, 11:33 PM ET
The U.N. Security Council approved another year of peacekeeping in Sudan’s bloodied Darfur region Thursday night, but the U.S. abstained from a vote that reflected sharp divisions over genocide charges against the Sudanese president.
The United States, despite support for the struggling peacekeeping mission, did not vote because of its opposition to any delay in efforts to prosecute Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.
The resolution that was approved 14-0 carried language that noted an African Union request to freeze the International Criminal Court’s prosecution of al-Bashir.
Though the measure does not stop the prosecution, U.S. Deputy Ambassador Alejandro Wolff said that the language “would send the wrong signal” to al-Bashir and “undermine efforts to bring him and others to justice.”
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, chief prosecutor of the international court, filed 10 charges against al-Bashir on July 14 related to violence in Darfur that the [...]