The "whole state apparatus" of Sudan is implicated in crimes against humanity in Darfur, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor has said.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo's report into the crisis in western Sudan, due on Thursday, coincides with a visit to the region by the UN Security Council.
Sudan's ambassador to the UN said the comments were "fictitious and vicious" and harmful to the prospects of peace.
The UN ambassadors are in the country to try to end the conflict.
In the report on the situation in Sudan, to be delivered to the UN Security Council, Mr Moreno-Ocampo repeats his earlier call for the council to demand that Sudan hand over two men who face charges of crimes against humanity.
Time for sanctions
The treaty that created the International Criminal Court (ICC) was intended to hold individuals, not entire states, responsible for war crimes and crimes against humanity.
By accusing Sudan's "whole state apparatus" of helping shield criminals, correspondents say, the prosecutor is implicating some of the highest officials of the government.
The Sudanese ambassador to the UN responded angrily that his country will not bend to the will of the ICC.
"We will never submit any of our citizens to be tried in The Hague," Abdalmahmood Abdalhaleem Mohamed said.
"Ocampo is destroying the peace process and we demand that this man be held accountable for what he is doing to the peace process in Sudan."
Mr Moreno-Ocampo's report comes as the Aegis Trust campaign group released a 17-minute film featuring harrowing eyewitness accounts of the war crimes allegedly committed by the two men whom the ICC accuses the Sudanese government of harbouring.
During the five-year conflict, pro-government Arab militias stand accused of committing atrocities against black Africans.
It is a conflict that has claimed an estimated 200,000 lives and caused 2.5m people to flee their homes.
Ali Kushayb, a leader of the Janjaweed militia, and Ahmad Harun, Sudan's current Humanitarian Affairs Minister, are both charged with 51 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including acts of murder, persecution, torture, rape and forcible displacement.
Dr James Smith, Chief Executive of the Aegis Trust, said the time had come for the Security Council to increase the pressure.
"It is time the Security Council placed targeted sanctions - travel bans at least - on those in Sudan who harbour those wanted for war crimes."
France's ambassador to the UN, Jean-Maurice Ripert, who is taking part in the visit to Africa's trouble spots, said Europe would be willing to penalise Sudan if it did not cooperate with the ICC.
Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/1/hi/world/africa/7436472.stm
Published: 2008/06/04 22:33:41 GMT
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