African leaders on Tuesday asked the United Nations to suspend an arrest warrant against Sudan's president, Omar al-Bashir, to allow them to carry out their own investigation, dpa reported.
The International Criminal Court accuses al-Bashir of war crimes and genocide in the restive Darfur province. However, the African Union has long opposed the arrest warrant, accusing the international tribunal of targeting only African leaders.
"We have decided to establish our own mechanism to approach the Sudan problem," Malawian president and AU chairman, Bingu wa Mutharika, told reporters at the end of a three-day AU summit in Kampala.
"We are asking the UN to postpone the period for the warrants of arrest for 12 months to allow us find what is really happening on the ground and corroborate our findings with those of the ICC," he added.
Al-Bashir is the only sitting head of state facing an arrest warrant, a fact that irks the AU.
"We are not condoning impunity, genocides or any forms of crimes either by individuals or by a head of state," the AU chief said. "But foreigners cannot decide on an issue concerning a head of state."
Al-Bashir has dismissed the warrant, and last week travelled to an ICC member state for the first time since the warrant for war crimes in Darfur was issued against him in March 2009.
The ICC added three counts of genocide to the warrant this month relating to the long conflict, which the United Nations says has claimed 300,000 lives.
The president visited Chad, sparking angry calls for the Chadian government to live up to its commitments and arrest him.
However, Chad was more concerned about mending fences with its neighbour. The two nations cut diplomatic relations in the past amid mutual accusations that each was supporting the other's rebel groups in a proxy war.
Al-Bashir did not attend the AU conference.
The ICC has no police force and relies on its member states to arrest suspects.