UN Secretary-General Ban Ki- moon recognizes the authority of the International Criminal Court (ICC) as an independent judicial institution and he trusts the Sudanese government will address the issues of peace and justice in accordance with UN Security Council Resolution 1593, a UN statement said on Wednesday.

The statement, issued here by Ban's spokesperson, said, "The secretary-general recognizes the authority of the International Criminal Court as an independent judicial institution."

"The secretary-general trusts that the government of Sudan will address the issues of peace and justice in a manner consistent with Security Council Resolution 1593," adopted in 2005, the statement said.

The statement came just hours after ICC issued in The Hague a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al-Bashir for his alleged responsibility for crimes committed in Darfur in western Sudan.

"The United Nations will continue to conduct its vital peacekeeping, humanitarian, human rights and development operations and activities in Sudan," the statement said.

"The secretary-general calls on the government of Sudan to continue to cooperate fully with all UN entities and their implementing partners, while fulfilling its obligation to ensure the safety and security of the civilian population, UN personnel and property, and that of its implementing partners."

"The secretary-general calls on all parties to work in good faith toward a political solution to end the conflict in Darfur," the statement added. "He also calls on the parties to the Comprehensive Peace Agreement to recommit themselves to the full and timely implementation of the Agreement, which remains the basis for the long term peace and security in Sudan."

Earlier on Wednesday, ICC issued the arrest warrant for the sitting Sudanese president, but President Al-Bashir denies the war crimes allegations and declines to deal with the court, the world' s first permanent war crimes tribunal which was set up in 2002, and there is currently no international mechanism to arrest him.

A senior diplomat of Libya, who holds the Security Council presidency for the month of March, said earlier this week that the 15-member UN body had no plan for an immediate meeting if the ICC indicts the Sudanese president.

The Security Council, which, under the UN Charter, has the primary responsibility for the maintenance of peace and security in the world at large, has the power to suspend ICC investigation or prosecution of a case for up to one year at a time, according to the Article 16 of the Rome Statute that set up the world tribunal.

The African Union and the Arab League have been lobbying the Security Council to use Article 16 to delay the arrest of Al- Bashir, diplomats said here.

ICC Chief Prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo accuses Al-Bashir for his alleged role in what he called genocide in Darfur. The chief prosecutor requested the warrant for the Sudanese president last July. The Sudanese president dismisses such allegations as a Western conspiracy.

Sudanese Minister of State for Information and Communication Kamal Ebeid said that his government rejects the arrest warrant issued by ICC and will not deal with the court, the state television reported in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum on Wednesday.

"The ICC's decision is regarded as a defiance against Sudan's sovereignty," Ebeid said, adding that "There is no firm evidence behind the ICC's arrest warrant."

UN peacekeepers in Sudan are ready for any violence if ICC issues the arrest warrant. The chief UN peacekeeping operation in Darfur, Alain Le Roy, welcomed assurances from the Sudanese Foreign Ministry on Sunday that the government would protect the UN peacekeeping mission in southern Sudan and the joint UN-African Union mission in Darfur against "any negative impact" of any possible court decision, reports said.

On Feb. 10, Ban said that Sudan must work with ICC whatever it decides regarding a possible arrest warrant for President Al- Bashir.

There are 13,000 UN and African Union peacekeepers in Darfur and a 13,000-odd UN mission in southern Sudan enforcing the implementation of a 2005 peace agreement that ended decades of fighting in the region.

(Xinhua News Agency March 5, 2009)