On Thursday, the Hague-based court approved a full probe into Myanmar's bloody 2017 military crackdown against the minority Muslim group - a move welcomed by the rights groups, reports Qatari news channel Al Jazeera. "The investigation over Myanmar by the ICC is not in accordance with international law," government spokesman Zaw Htay said at a news conference on Friday. Over 700,000 Rohingyas sought shelter in Cox's Bazar following August 2017 military crackdown in the Rakhine State that the UN termed “ethnic cleansing”. Myanmar has repeatedly defended the crackdown as necessary to stamp out fighters and has long refused to recognise the authority of the ICC. The ICC decision came after West African nation The Gambia on Monday filed a separate case at the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the UN's top court, accusing Myanmar of genocide.

Source: bd News24 November 16, 2019 05:15 UTC