ICC sets trial date for Darfur rebel commander

The war crimes trial of a Darfur rebel commander will start on 18 November 2014 at the International Criminal Court (ICC) in The Hague. “Trial Chamber IV of the ICC scheduled the opening of the trial in the case The Prosecutor v. Abdallah Banda Abakaer Nourain on 18 November 2014, for three charges of war crimes allegedly committed in Darfur,” according to a statement, issued by the ICC on Monday. The crimes were allegedly committed during an attack on 29 September 2007, on members of the African Union Peacekeeping Mission in Sudan (AMIS) at the Haskanita military site in Um Keddada locality, North Darfur. Twelve AMIS soldiers were killed, and eight others injured. Rebel commander Saleh Mohamed Jerbo Jamus who faced the same charges, was killed last year in a clash with the Justice and Equality Movement. Ahmed Haroun, the current Governor of North Kordofan State, Janjaweed leader Ali Kushayb, Minister of Defence Abdel Rahim Hussein, and President Omar Al Bashir have been charged by ICC prosecutors with war crimes and crimes against humanity. File photo: Defence lawyer Karim Khan (L), Abdallah Banda (C) and Saleh Jerbo (R), 17 June 2010 (Reuters)  Related: Lawyers say ICC suspect Jerbo killed in Darfur (24 April 2013) ICC suspect, JEM-Bashar deputy presumably killed in Darfur (22 April 2013)