The International Criminal Court will reconsider bringing genocide charges against Sudan's president after judges upheld an appeal by prosecutors².

国际刑事法庭的法官支持由公诉人提起的诉讼请求，将会考虑对苏丹总统提起种族灭绝指控。

President Bashir has continued to avoid arrest under the ICC warrant

Last year, an ICC warrant was issued for President Omar al-Bashir for war crimes in Darfur.

The Hague court's pre-trial chamber³ will now have to rule on whether to add three counts of genocide.

A top Sudanese official said the ruling was politically motivated, while rebels in Darfur welcomed it.

Prosecutors say Mr Bashir's government sought to追求，争取 wipe out消灭，垮台 three ethnic⁴ groups.

They argued last year that it had intended to destroy the Fur, Masalit and Zaghawa peoples.

If genocide charges are now brought, they will be the first to be issued by the ICC against a sitting head of state国家元首.

African and Arab leaders have rallied around团结，聚集 Mr Bashir and several nations have refused to honour the existing warrant.

Mr Bashir was travelling to Qatar卡塔尔 for a one-day visit on Wednesday for talks on peace in Darfur with the Qatari leader, Sheikh Hamad bin⁵ Khalifah al-Thani, Sudanese state radio said.

The UN says 300,000 people have died in the Darfur conflict since 2003.

'Error of law'

"The pre-trial chamber is directed to decide anew," presiding judge Erkki Kourula said, upholding赞成，支撑 the appeal lodged⁶ by prosecutor¹ Luis Moreno-Ocampo.

Judge Kourola said the standard of evidence set in the previous ruling had been "higher and more demanding than what is required".

The prosecution⁷ had argued that the time to provide definitive⁸ levels of proof was during the main trial and not when they were just seeking to bring charges.

"The decision by the pre-trial chamber not to issue a warrant in the respect of the charge of genocide was materially affected⁹ by an error of law," Judge Kourola said in court.

He stressed that the appeals court上诉法院 was not itself ruling that Mr Bashir was criminally responsible for the crime of genocide.

Reacting to the ruling in Khartoum, Rabie Abdelati, a senior information ministry¹⁰ official, accused the court of seeking to obstruct¹¹ democratic elections due to be held in April.

"This procedure of the ICC is only to stop the efforts of the Sudanese government towards elections and a peaceful exchange of power," the official said.