International

Russia criticises U.S. stance

By Vladimir Radyuhin

MOSCOW MAY 8 . Russia has criticised the U.S. refusal to join an international war crimes tribunal and reiterated Moscow's support for the body.

"It is widely believed that the United States is committing a mistake by openly opposing the International Criminal Court (ICC)," said a Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman, commenting on Washington's decision to withdraw from the Rome Statute on the establishment of the first permanent war crimes tribunal.

The former U.S. President, Bill Clinton, signed the treaty, but never submitted it to the Senate for ratification. The administration of the current U.S. President, George W. Bush, has made its opposition clear. American officials said on Monday that the ICC could threaten U.S. sovereignty, and that Washington would regard as "illegitimate" any moves by the court to assert jurisdiction over U.S. citizens.

Russia signed the Rome Statute in September 2000, but has yet to ratify it. The spokesman said that the question of the document's ratification was "under examination". He also noted that almost 70 nations had already ratified the treaty, and by the end of the year that number was likely to grow to between 80 and 90.

The RIA Novosti news agency quoted diplomatic sources as saying that the U.S. was also going to withdraw from a number of other international treaties.

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