U.S. Backs Off Immunity Fight Involving Court

UNITED NATIONS, July 10 — Under severe criticism from some of its closest allies for demanding immunity for American peacekeepers from the new International Criminal Court, the United States offered a compromise today that would safeguard its troops and officials from prosecution for one year.

The proposal offered the first tangible prospect for the resolution of a dispute that has generated unusually fierce and united international criticism of the Bush administration. Among the sharpest critics in today's debate were the two immediate neighbors of the United States, Canada and Mexico.

The new American proposal marked a considerable retreat from the letter and spirit of earlier American drafts, which brusquely demanded blanket immunity for United Nations peacekeepers.

The new document makes no mention of immunity. It proposes that the new court not investigate or prosecute officials or personnel of United Nations missions for a year, after which the Security Council would vote to renew the arrangement.

The British ambassador, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, said the resolution was "a very fair basis for discussions," which will continue Thursday morning.

But several member nations reportedly continued to question the propriety of allowing the Security Council to tamper with the treaty that established the court, and it remained far from certain whether the United States would find the nine votes needed for passage in the 15-member Security Council.

The immediate issue was Washington's demand that peacekeeping forces in Bosnia be exempt from prosecution by the International Criminal Court, which came into existence on July 1. The court is held in disdain by American conservatives as an infringement on national sovereignty, and Washington refused to renew the United Nations mandate for the forces in Bosnia unless it included the exemption.

The demand, however, touched a nerve among Europeans and others who saw it as another attempt by the United States to set itself above the rest of the world. As passions grew, the Council approved two brief extensions of the Bosnia mission, which now expires Monday.