Yet another embarrassing failure for Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the prosecutor who has yet to achieve a single conviction after six-and-half years at the International Criminal Court.

Today, the court threw out the case against Bahar Idriss Abu Garda, a Sudanese rebel leader accused of involvement in an attack on an African Union peace mission in Sudan's Darfur region in 2007 that killed 12 international troops. 

A pre-trial chamber said it was not satisfied that there was enough evidence to show that Abu Garda could be held criminally responsible.

Abu Garda was the first accused person to surrender to the jurisdiction of the ICC and the first suspect in the Darfur conflict to appear before the court. 

Instead of looking for further evidence against the defendant -- which would have allowed Moreno-Ocampo another chance to seek confirmation of the charges -- the prosecutor announced immediately that he would appeal.

As I have argued many times before, it would have been better if Moreno-Ocampo had announced that he would resign.