Geneva - United Nations General Assembly president Miguel d'Escoto Brockmann on Thursday condemned the International Criminal Court (ICC) decision to issue an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir, saying it was politically motivated.

"I am sorry about the decision of the ICC. It is more a decision motivated by political considerations than really for the sake of advancing the cause of justice in the world," the Nicaraguan diplomat said in Geneva.

It would have preferable to let the ongoing peace negotiations on Darfur continue, rather than turn the issue into an international legal matter, Brockmann added.

He said it was "absurd" to have ignored calls by the African Union not to issue the warrant. There were "a few people with a very dubious past" who "put themselves on a pedestal of purity and immaculate behaviour."

"To find the peace we are looking for, it would be important to begin by indicting people from powerful nations, not smaller ones," said Brockmann, adding that "everyone knows who I am talking about. The biggest atrocity today is the one being committed in Iraq."

The ICC announced Wednesday issued an international arrest warrant for al-Bashir on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity related to atrocities in Sudan's western Darfur region.

Commenting on the Middle East, Brockmann said the situation in the Gaza Strip was allowed to continue with "impunity" because "there are powerful, powerful interests defending perpetrators of such atrocities."

No effort should be spared "to try to bring peace between our Israeli and Palestinian brothers and sisters," he said. (dpa)