However, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said Friday that the United States does not have anything to do with the ICC.

On Monday, the White House said that the United States will monitor the situation as the ICC prosecutor is seeking the arrest of al-Bashir on charges of war crimes.

"We urge all sides to remain calm. We will monitor the situation in The Hague and review what the prosecutor has requested, but we are not a part of the ICC," said U.S. National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe.

The ICC move also stirred widespread concerns and condemns in Sudan. The Sudanese government has reiterated that it does not recognize the ICC and would refuse any decision or memorandum delivered by the court.

Sudan is not a party to the Rome Treaty establishing the ICC, the world's first permanent war crimes tribunal to try persons accused of the most serious crimes of international concern, namely genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.

But the UN Security Council decided in March 2005 to refer the Darfur situation to the ICC, a decision opposed by Sudan, which insisted on its own prosecution.

Sudan's Cabinet reiterated on Sunday that it does not recognize the ICC and will refuse any decision or memorandum delivered by the court.

According to Sudanese official news agency SUNA, Sudanese Council of the States on Monday strongly denounced at an extraordinary meeting of Committee of the Council's Affairs the ICC move to indict Sudan's senior officials.

In the same day, Sudanese Vice President Ali Othman Mohammed Taha told a press conference that the ICC move is a politically- motivated one against Sudan instead of a legal one.

(Xinhua News Agency July 15, 2008)