Darfur rebel chief pleads innocence over war crimesDarfur rebel chief Bahar Idriss Abu Garda proclaimed his innocence Monday after appearing before an international war crimes court, and urged Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir to surrender as well. "I would like to confirm that absolutely I am not guilty to all charges," the United Resistance Front leader told journalists in The Hague after a brief appearance in the International Criminal Court on three counts of war crimes. "But it is very important for any honest leader to come and to face the justice." The 46-year-old surrendered to the court on Sunday, a little more than 10 weeks after the ICC ICC See: International Chamber of Commerce issued an arrest warrant for Beshir, who has refused to cooperate. Abu Garda faces charges over a September 2007 attack on the Haskanita military base in north Darfur North Darfur (Arabic: شمال دارفور; transliterated: Shamal Darfor) is one of the 26 wilayat or that killed 12 African Union African Union (AU), international organization established in 2002 by the nations of the former Organization of African Unity (OAU). The AU is the successor organization to the OAU, with greater powers to promote African economic, social, and political integration, peacekeepers and seriously wounded A casualty whose injuries or illness are of such severity that the patient is rendered unable to walk or sit, thereby requiring a litter for movement and evacuation. See also evacuation; litter; patient. eight others. "I am looking forward to clearing my name," he told journalists outside the court, adding that "justice should be implemented for everybody, whether it is Abu Garda or President Omar al-Beshir. "I call on Omar al-Beshir and the others ... they should face the justice, come to face the justice here." Abu Garda is the first person to appear before the ICC in connection with the six-year conflict in the western Sudanese region. The court had issued a summons instead of an arrest warrant for Abu Garda, as he had said he would appear voluntarily -- the first ever to do so. The UN says more than 300,000 people have been killed and more than two million displaced displaced see displacement. since the Darfur conflict The Darfur conflict is a crisis in the Darfur region of western Sudan. Unlike the Second Sudanese Civil War, which was fought between the primarily Muslim north and Christian and Animist south, the current lines of conflict are seen to be ethnic and tribal, rather than religious. broke out in 2003, when ethnic minority rebels took up arms against the Arab-dominated regime for a greater share of resources and power. The Sudanese government says 10,000 people have been killed. Abu Garda urged the international community Monday to put pressure on the Sudanese government to allow expelled aid organisations back into the country. "If that doesn't happen, real genocide genocide, in international law, the intentional and systematic destruction, wholly or in part, by a government of a national, racial, religious, or ethnic group. will happen in Darfur because of hunger," he said. 
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