The African Union said Friday a decision by the International Criminal Court to consider adding genocide charges to an arrest warrant for President Omar al -Bashir harms the peace process in Sudan.

"The AU reiterates that the search for justice should be pursued in a manner not detrimental to the search for peace. The latest decision by the ICC runs in the opposite direction," the pan-African body said in a statement.
 

An appeals chamber of the International Criminal Court (ICC) on Wednesday ordered a review of Bashir's arrest warrant for alleged atrocities in the western Sudanese province of Darfur.
 

It directed judges to reconsider their decision omitting genocide from the warrant issued in March last year, saying they had made "an error in law".
 

The African Union said the ICC's decision comes at a sensitive time for Sudan - with elections due to be held in April and a referendum on self-determination for Southern Sudan set for January 2011.
 

"For the African continent, the successful completion of these processes and, more generally, the implementation of the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA) are of utmost importance," it added.
 

Ultimately, it comes down to understanding what the peace process actually is. In terms of the ‘formal’ peace process, the outcome of the indictment “depends very much on how President al Bashir and others involved in the process conduct themselves”, says Alison Smith, Coordinator of the International Criminal Justice Program, No Peace Without Justice (NPWJ) based in Brussels.
 

“On another level, it’s a question of peace in Darfur, and peace is not just an absence of fighting, peace is [also] an absence of the fear of violence…Until they have justice in Sudan, there will be this fear of violence returning.”
 

The AU had asked the UN Security Council to defer proceedings against Beshir, but it has yet to do so.
 

On Tuesday, the 53 member bloc sought an amendment to the Rome Statute establishing the ICC to allow the UN General Assembly to defer cases when the Security Council fails to decide on them.

Question of politics?
The Sudanese embassy in Addis Ababa on Friday also denounced ICC's latest ruling.
 

"It is quite obvious that the ICC decision is a more political rather than legal and it is propagated by known circles to Sudan to destabilise the country," a statement said.
 

On the other hand, “the question is whether or not the threat of justice for those involved in the peace negotiations makes them decide that they don’t want to participate”, says Smith.
 

The ICC issued the arrest warrant for Bashir on five counts of crimes against humanity and two of war crimes committed in Sudan's war torn western Darfur region - its first ever warrant for a sitting head of state.