US kills off UN Bosnia mission in spat over court

11.45am

UNITED NATIONS - The United States vetoed a resolution extending the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia on Sunday, possibly killing off the mission in a clash with its fellow Security Council members over the powers of a new global war crimes court.

Washington vetoed the resolution extending the mission's mandate after the council refused a US demand that its peacekeepers be given immunity from the new International Criminal Court, which comes into force on Monday.

However, US officials later said it was possible they could agree to a short-term renewal of the mission -- perhaps three days -- and try again for a compromise satisfactory to both sides.

Thirteen of the council's 15 members -- including Britain, France, Russia and China -- voted against the United States, with Bulgaria abstaining. Diplomats said it was the first time in memory they could recall Washington in open opposition to long-time close allies London and Paris.

Ambassadors from several council member nations afterward pronounced the US stand bewildering and said they hoped Washington would now reverse direction and help them keep the Bosnia mission alive.

Secretary-General Kofi Annan told council members the veto had "severely compromised" plans to turn over the reins of the UN mission to the European Union at the end of the year.

"What is at stake is the very capacity of the United Nations to continue peacekeeping operations -- operations that provide irreplaceable services to the international community as a whole," said French Ambassador Jean-David Levitte.

US Ambassador John Negroponte said Washington had vetoed the resolution "with great regret."

"The United States has contributed and will continue to contribute to maintaining peace and security in the Balkans and around the globe," he said.

"But we will not ask them (US personnel) to accept the additional risk of politicised prosecutions before a court whose jurisdiction over our people the government of the United States does not accept," he said.

"With our global responsibilities, we are and will remain a special target, and cannot have our decisions second-guessed by a court whose jurisdiction we do not recognise," he said.

The decision was likely to be a public relations nightmare for Washington, which was instrumental in bringing to an end the bloody three-year war in Bosnia that spawned the term "ethnic cleansing."

Following the US renunciation of treaties on global warming and the International Criminal Court, the move was also likely to reinforce allies' views that President George W Bush was uninterested in international co-operation despite his insistent pleas for help in the US "war on terrorism."

The International Criminal Court takes jurisdiction over heinous wrongdoing such as gross human rights abuses, genocide and war crimes on Monday, although its prosecutor, judge and courtrooms in The Hague, Netherlands, will not be in place until early next year.

Supported by the Pentagon and US conservatives, Bush argues the tribunal could lead to politically motivated prosecutions of its troops or officials working outside US borders.

However, most council members are either among the 74 nations that have ratified the new court or soon plan to be. They say that binds them to do nothing to undermine the tribunal.

They also say there are ample safeguards already in place to prevent US citizens from frivolous prosecution by the court.

The UN Bosnia mission was launched in 1995 to train a professional multi-ethnic police force.

The United States has 46 police officers in the mission but has refused to simply pull them out of the country to protect them from the new court's grasp.

It has instead pressed the Security Council for a blanket resolution granting immunity to US officials and peacekeepers from the new global criminal court. It has threatened to eventually withdraw from all UN-authorised peacekeeping missions if it does not get a grant of immunity from the council.

- REUTERS

Feature: Yugoslavia

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