The International Criminal Court has issued an international arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir.

He's wanted for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Darfur. The court's decision has been rejected by the Sudanese government.

International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo gives a press conference in The Hague after the court announced it was seeking the arrest of Sudanese President Omar al-Beshir for war crimes in Darfur, issuing the first ever warrant against a sitting head of state.[Valerie Kuypers/CCTV/AFP/ANP]

This is the first time the court has issued an arrest warrant for a sitting head of state since it was established in July 2002.

At a press conference in The Hague, court spokeswoman Laurence Blairon said the ICC issued a warrant for Bashir for alleged "war crimes and crimes against humanity". The crimes are alleged to have been committed in Sudan's western Darfur region between April 2003 and last July. The warrant was issued last July, based on an application by the ICC's chief prosecutor Moreno-Ocampo.

The warrant lists five counts of crimes against humanity and two counts of war crimes, but omits the crime of genocide.

However, Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, currently in Egypt, said the court decision would have "no effect on President Bashir".

Ali Karti, Sudan's State Minister for Foreign Affairs, said, "The decision will have no effect on President Bashir, as the International Court of Justice expects. President Bashir will carry on with his duties normally, whatever the decision of the Court."

The Sudanese government says the ICC decision defies Sudan's sovereignty.

Meanwhile, crowds in Sudan's capital, Khartoum, protested the ICC's action. They denounced the arrest warrant as part of a Western conspiracy aimed at destabilizing the oil-rich nation south of Egypt.

(CCTV March 6, 2009)