UN nears deadline in US spat over crimes court

Midnight also marks the hour the new International Criminal Court comes into force, empowered to prosecute heinous wrongdoing such as gross human rights abuses, genocide and war crimes.

No crimes committed prior to Monday can be pursued under the terms of the treaty that created the court, which will be based in The Hague, Netherlands, and will not actually have a prosecutor or judges until early next year. The US has renounced the court as a threat to its sovereignty, but Bosnia has ratified it.

The UN Bosnia mission was launched in 1995 to train a professional multi-ethnic police force after a three-year war that gave rise to the term ‘‘ethnic cleansing.’’

Washington has threatened to veto the resolution that would keep the mission alive unless the UN satisfied US demands for immunity.

The Security Council was divided 14-1 against the US position. Envoys could not recall the last time a Security Council fight pitted Washington against its allies Britain and France.

(Reuters)