'I will arrest you': Duterte warns ICC lawyer to stay out of Philippines

President RodrigoDuterte has threatened to arrest an International Criminal Court(ICC) prosecutor if she conducts activities in the Philippines,arguing it was no longer an ICC member, so the court had no rightto do any investigating.

Hitting out at what he said was an international effort topaint him as a "ruthless and heartless violator of humanrights," Duterte withdrew the Philippines from the ICC's RomeStatute a month ago and promised to continue his crackdown on drugs, in which thousands have been killed.

In February, ICC prosecutor Fatou Bensouda announced thestart of a preliminary examination into a complaint by a Philippine lawyer thataccuses Duterte and top officials ofcrimes against humanity, and of killing criminals as a policy.

Duterte has cited numerous reasonshe believes the ICChas no jurisdiction over him, and on Friday suggested that anydoubts about that should have been dispelled by his withdrawal.

"What is your authority now? If we are not members of thetreaty, why are you ... in this country?," he told reporters, in comments aimed at Bensouda. "You cannot exercise any proceedings here without basis.That is illegal and I will arrest you."

It is not clear whether Bensouda or the ICC has carried outany activities in the Philippines related to the complaint against Duterte.

The office of the prosecutor in The Hague and the Philippine Foreign Ministry did not immediately respond to requests forcomment.

More than 4,000 dead

Since July 2016, police have killed more than 4,000 peoplethey say are drug dealers who resisted arrest. Activists say many of those were executions, which police deny.

Duterte has told security forces not to co-operate with anyforeign investigators,and last month said he would convince other ICC members to withdraw.

Duterte had earlier vowed to face the ICC, and critics saypulling out is futile, because the ICC has jurisdiction to investigate alleged crimes committed in the period from when thePhilippines joined in 2011 to when its withdrawal takes effectin March 2019.

Under the Rome Statute, the ICC can step in and exercisejurisdiction if states are unable or unwilling to investigate suspected crimes.

But the mercurial former mayor and his legal aides arguethat technically, the Philippines never actually joined the ICC, because it was not announced in the country's official gazette.

"If there is no publication, it is as if there is no law atall," Duterte said on Friday.