Rights groups Monday urged Senegal to try former Chadian dictator Hissene Habre for war crimes after its justice minister said a conviction in Chad on similar charges could derail a planned trial here.
Justice Minister Madicke Niang said on Sunday that if Habre had already been convicted for the same crimes in his native Chad, then "he can no longer be judged in any jurisdiction in the world."
The comments raised questions about the political will of the Senegalese government to try Habre.

Rights groups raised the alarm regarding the long-awaited trial of former Chadian President Hissene Habré after Senegal's Justice Minister Madicke Niang raised doubts Habré could not be tried twice for the same alleged offences. Habre was sentenced to death in absentia in Ndjamena last week for "attacking the security of the state", even though he is currently facing charges in Senegal, where he has lived in exile since 1991.

A Chadian criminal court on Friday condemned exiled former president Hissene Habre to death in absentia for crimes against humanity, judicial officials said.
The court also sentenced 11 Chadian rebel leaders to death in absentia.
All 12 defendants were convicted for having attacked the "constitutional order and the integrity and security of the territory."
Among the 11 rebel leaders convicted and sentenced was their overall leader Mahamat Nouri.

APA-Dakar (Sénégal) The coup that occurred in Nouakchott on Wednesday is "a huge mess of the electoral process," Secretary General of the African Defence for Human Rights (RADDHO) Alioune Tine told APA in Dakar.

"This coup is a huge mess of the democratic process in Mauritania," Tine, who expects "a very firm reaction from the international community to force the army to leave power, for a return to constitutional legality, said.