Jul 4, 2002 4 min read

UNITED NATIONS (AP) – The U.N. Security Council extended the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia until July 15 on Wednesday, averting a threatened shutdown by the United States over its demand for immunity for American peacekeepers. The delay will give the 15-member council more time to try to resolve a contentious dispute that has left the United States at odd with its allies and the vast majority of the council.

The United States on Sunday vetoed a resolution extending the Bosnian mission because it didn’t grant immunity to American peacekeepers, but agreed to a 72-hour extension until midnight Wednesday.

U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte had vowed not to extend the mission without exemption for U.S. peacekeepers.

But after council members rejected two compromise U.S. proposals Wednesday to put American peacekeepers beyond the reach of the new international war crimes tribunal, the Bush administration gave the green light for further negotiations.

The United States is demanding immunity for U.S. participants in U.N. peacekeeping operations, claiming Americans could be subject to frivolous political prosecutions.

Negroponte said the United States decided to give the council more time to consider its proposals and hopefully reach an agreement that would exempt U.S. peacekeepers.

“No one has slammed the door on our proposals,” Negroponte said. “It’s been an uphill fight in gaining acceptance of positions we have been putting forward.”

The U.S. demand for immunity has left Washington standing virtually alone against the majority of council members who support the International Criminal Court. Six council nations have ratified the Rome treaty establishing the court and six others have signed it. The court came into existence Monday.

The Bush administration also has been criticized worldwide and at home for threatening to end U.N. peacekeeping in Bosnia if it doesn’t get immunity for American peacekeepers.

“The whole system of U.N. peacekeeping operations is being put at risk,” U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan warned in a letter Wednesday to Secretary of State Colin Powell.

He strongly backed those who contend the United States is trying to rewrite the Rome statute. No member of a U.N. peacekeeping mission had ever been accused of committing a war crime, he said, adding: “The issue that the United States is raising in the council is therefore highly improbable.”

The Security Council had been seeking a six-month extension of the 1,500-strong U.N. police training mission in Bosnia, which was due to be handed over to the European Union on Jan. 1. The resolution would also have extended U.N. authorization for the 18,000-strong NATO-led peacekeeping force in Bosnia for one year.

The United States appeared Wednesday to be giving ground.

Air Force Gen. Richard Myers, chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters at NATO headquarters in Brussels on Wednesday that the U.S. commitment in Bosnia would not be affected by the dispute. “It’s in together, out together,” he said.

A European diplomat said the European Union nations were “very, very firm” in supporting the International Criminal Court and opposing any proposals that distort its “spirit and letter.”

Behind closed doors Wednesday, the Security Council discussed a U.S. proposal circulated late the previous night. Diplomats said 10 of the 15 council members opposed it, and only China supported it.

The proposal would give the council’s veto-wielding members – the United States, Britain, France, Russia and China – the right to permanently block the court’s investigation or prosecution of peacekeepers.

The United States returned Wednesday afternoon with a revised proposal that allow the Security Council’s permanent members provide immunity for peacekeepers. It changed some language but would still deny that the criminal court has jurisdiction over Americans.

Norway’s U.N. Ambassador Ole Peter Kolby said the United States gained some support from council members but “still it doesn’t go far enough to be acceptable.”

“They’ve tried, but their best isn’t good enough,” said Mexico’s deputy U.N. ambassador Roberta Lajous.

The court is responsible for prosecuting those accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes on or after July 1, but will step in only when countries are unwilling or unable to dispense justice.

Supporters say this and other safeguards will prevent the frivolous prosecutions feared by the United States.