Sudanese officials confirmed Oct. 13 that they had arrested notorious janjaweed militia leader Ali Muhammad Ali Abd-al-Rahman, also known as Ali Kushayb. The International Criminal Court (ICC) charged Kushayb with crimes against humanity in 2007 for orchestrating militia attacks in the Darfur region that led to the rape and murder of civilians and the destruction of entire villages. But given that Sudan's government had previously ignored orders to extradite Kushayb, its sudden willingness to cooperate raises suspicion that his arrest may have been merely an attempt to ease international pressure on Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir-whom the ICC has also recently accused of war crimes and genocide in Darfur.
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