By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS, July 28 (Reuters) - Libya and South Africa, trying to block the International Criminal Court from indicting Sudan's leader for genocide, want the U.N. Security Council to prevent such a move in a resolution extending the mandate of international peacekeepers in Darfur.

The U.N. Security Council was meeting on Monday to discuss the Libyan and South Africa proposals, which have the support of China and Russia, after the ICC's chief prosecutor, Luis Moreno-Ocampo, asked the court's judges to issue a warrant for Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir's arrest.

Moreno-Ocampo accused the Sudanese leader of orchestrating a campaign of genocide that has killed 35,000 people outright, at least another 100,000 through "slow death" and forced 2.5 million from their homes.

The court, based in The Hague, is not expected to make a decision on Moreno-Ocampo's recommendation for several months. But Libya and South Africa are leading an effort to include language against any ICC indictment of Bashir in the resolution to extend the mandate of peacekeepers in Darfur.

Khartoum supports them. "We want the Security Council to start this process by saying there is no case" against Bashir, Sudan's U.N. Ambassador Abdalmahmoud Abdalhaleem told Reuters.

The Arab League and the African Union have expressed concern that the ICC prosecutor's moves against Bashir could harm efforts to end the five-year-old conflict in Darfur.

The Security Council is scheduled to vote on Wednesday on a British-drafted resolution extending the mandate of joint U.N.-African Union peacekeepers in Darfur (UNAMID) for one year.

Libya and South Africa, backed by China and Russia, have been lobbying for inclusion of a paragraph that would call for a suspension of any ICC moves against Bashir.

Council diplomats said there were several proposals under discussion. The paragraph could say the Security Council should halt any ICC investigation of Bashir, or that an indictment of Bashir would undermine the peace process. It could also simply take note of the AU and Arab League's concerns.

Western diplomats said they were all opposed to the inclusion of language on indicting Bashir, not least because the ICC judges have not made any decision yet.

"We don't need to deal with it in this text," U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad told reporters.

RUSSIA AND CHINA RELUCTANT

Under Article 16 of the ICC statute, the 15-nation Security Council can pass a resolution suspending the court's investigations or prosecutions for a year at a time.

Russia and China have expressed concern that an ICC indictment of Bashir would undermine efforts aimed at bringing peace to Darfur and have said they would support suspending any indictment. But neither has been willing to take the lead in pushing the council to make a move on the issue.

Council diplomats say China's decision to play a passive role, despite its strong ties to Sudan's government, stems from its reluctance to give prominence to its close relationship with Khartoum before the Beijing Olympics, which open Aug. 8.

Film director Steven Spielberg embarrassed Beijing earlier this year by withdrawing as an artistic adviser to the Olympics because of China's policy on the Darfur conflict.

China is also a major oil customer and sells weapons to Sudan.

Abdalhaleem made it clear that even if there is no mention of a possible indictment of Bashir in the UNAMID resolution, the issue will not go away. Sudan has said it is ready to conduct its own trials for crimes in Darfur and would allow international experts to inspect its legal system.

Last year the ICC indicted two Sudanese men for war crimes in Darfur, a remote and desolate region in western Sudan, but Khartoum has ignored the arrest warrants. (Editing by Chris Wilson)

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