120 countries oppose US stand on world court

UNITED NATIONS: The UN Security Council agreed to let UN member states express their views on Wednesday about the US threat to end the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia if it fails to get immunity for American peacekeepers from the new war crimes tribunal. With nearly 120 countries already on record opposing the US stand, the US government is expected to come under sustained criticism, even from close allies.

Ambassador Paul Heinbecker of Canada, which strongly supports the International Criminal Court, sent a letter to the council last week requesting an open meeting before it votes. Britain's UN Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock, the current council president, said Monday he had scheduled debate on Wednesday.

Last Wednesday, the United States gave the Bosnian mission a reprieve until July 15 after two proposals to get an exemption for American peacekeepers from the new war crimes tribunal were informally rejected by the vast majority of the 15-member council.

US Ambassador John Negroponte conceded it has been "an uphill fight" to get council support for US immunity. Greenstock said there will be discussions at the United Nations and in key capitals before and after the debate to try to resolve the contentious dispute that has left the United States at odds with its allies and much of the world.

The International Criminal Court will prosecute those responsible for genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes on or after July 1, but it will step in only when countries are unwilling or unable to dispense justice.