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US cuts aid over ICC immunity refusals
The United States has cut military aid to 35 countries over their refusal to exempt US troops from prosecution by the new International Criminal Court (ICC). The US, which is not a signatory to the ICC, has asked nations that recognise the court to exempt Americans from its provisions over fears they could be subject to politically-motivated prosecution by the court.Think Belgium writ large. US officials says the suspension affects US allies like Brazil, Colombia and South Africa, the Baltic states as well as NATO hopefuls such as Bulgaria, Croatia, Slovakia and Slovenia. The EU-crats have been going nutz over this and have put serious pressure on these countries not to sign such agreements. White House spokesman Ari Fleischer says the US government will never accept the court. "It's important to protect American service men and women and others in government," Mr Fleischer said. Our Washington correspondent John Shovelan says the decision to punish countries that have refused to exempt US troops from prosecution is the latest in a series of attacks on the court by the Bush administration. We're not attacking it, John, we're pointing out that we don't recognize its authority. And we won't allow our people to be Posted by: Steve White 2003-07-02 |
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