Posted on 08/26/2002 4:52:14 PM PDT by Prodigal Son
WASHINGTON: The United States announced today it had signed a deal with East Timor that gives US troops in the world's newest nation immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court.
Under the so-called "Article 98" agreement inked by US and East Timorese officials in Dili on Friday, East Timor pledged not to extradite any US soldier for prosecution to The Hague-based court that Washington virulently opposes, the US State department said. The deal is the third that the United States has concluded since it began an international campaign to sign such agreements after the court came into being on July 1, spokesman Richard Boucher said.
To date, the only other countries to have signed such agreements with the US are Israel and Romania.
EU officials have criticised Romania, a candidate for membership in the European Union, for its decision to sign and today's announcement of the deal with East Timor came as the trans-Atlantic row over the ICC heated up.
The US State department said Secretary of State Colin Powell had written to European governments in mid-August to complain that some in the European Union were trying to prevent Washington from signing Article 98 agreements.
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