Hague Court Will Pursue Sudan Leader

PARIS — The International Criminal Court in The Hague is expected to announce on March 4 that it will issue an arrest warrant for President Omar Hassan al-Bashir of Sudan, the first such action by the court against a sitting head of state.

In an unusual statement on Monday, the three pretrial judges on the court said they were giving the date in view of “numerous rumors over the past weeks on a possible date and outcome of the decision.” They gave no further details.

Court officials and diplomats had told The New York Times this month that a panel of judges had agreed on the arrest warrant in private sessions in January.

Lawyers familiar with the court, who spoke anonymously because of the sensitivity of the matter, said the announcement of the date was prompted by security concerns. They said it would alert diplomats, United Nations peacekeepers and humanitarian workers in Sudan and the region that they could become the targets of attacks.

The United Nations has some 10,000 peacekeeping troops — one of its largest contingents — in the Darfur region of Sudan; more than 10,000 humanitarian workers from different nations are working in the country.

Last July, the court’s chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, requested an arrest warrant for President Bashir, saying there was sufficient evidence to charge him with war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. The prosecutor said Mr. Bashir had masterminded and organized a campaign of genocide in the western Darfur region, starting in 2003. Mr. Bashir has denied the charges.