国际英语新闻：Genocide charge against Bashir "unacceptable": AL

CAIRO, Feb. 6 (Xinhua) -- The Cairo-based Arab League (AL) said on Saturday that the International Criminal Court's (ICC) decision to reconsider genocide charge against Sudanese President Omar al- Bashir is "unacceptable."

"This action hampers the ongoing African and Arab efforts to promote peace process in Sudan," the 22-member pan-Arab bloc said in a statement.

The AL statement also called for implementing the initiatives of the African Union (AU), which are widely supported by Arab, African and international powers.

The 53-member AU said on Friday that ICC's decision, which came three months before Sudan's general election, endangers the peace process in Sudan.

The AU has appealed to the UN Security Council to cancel ICC's legal actions against Bashir, but in vain.

Earlier on Tuesday, the AU asked to amend the Rome Statute, on which the ICC is based, to empower the UN General Assembly to defer cases when the Security Council fails.

The ICC appeals chamber judges on Wednesday ordered the ICC pre- trial judges to reconsider their decision not to charge al-Bashir with genocide.

On March 3, 2009, the ICC pre-trial court issued an arrest warrant against al-Bashir, accusing him of war crimes and crimes against humanity. However, the ICC pre-trial chamber found there was insufficient evidence to charge al-Bashir with genocide.

The pre-trial court decision pushed the ICC prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo to appeal the decision on July 6, 2009.