UN Bosnia Mission Mandate Extended

The fifteen Security Council members have voted to extend a U.N. peacekeeping mission in Bosnia until July 15.

The unanimous vote came hours before the deadline for the end of the mission expired at midnight on Thursday. The U.S. had threatended to veto the extension unless US diplomats and soldiers were granted full immunity from the International Criminal Court (ICC) which opened in the Netherlands this week. It backed the Security Council vote in view of further negotiations.

Washington's condition for renewal has angered European Union states and others. Many say it undermines the court, set up to try perpetrators of the most heinous crimes like genocide and war crimes. Some accuse the U.S. of turning its back on the people of Bosnia, having been integral to ending a three-year war there.

U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan warned U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell earlier that America's stance was putting at risk the entire system of U.N. peacekeeping, calling U.S. fears of vulnerability at the ICC exaggerated.

Proposal rejected by UN

Late on Wednesday, the U.S. offered a compromise on immunity from the ICC whereby it, and the other four U.N. veto powers, would be given the right to veto any prosecution at the global court. The suggestion was rejected by the Security Council.

But U.S. Ambassador to the U.N. John Negroponte concluded that no one had "slammed the door shut" on the American proposals and negotiations should continue during the 12-day extension starting next week.

German foreign minister critical of US stance

But those discussions look set to be just as troubled. According to German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer Washington's proposals are against even American interests.

In an interview with German public radio, Deutschlandfunk, Fischer expressed concern at a return to America's veto-politics, last seen during the Cold War.

"Even the strongest nations in the world can't do without partners," said Fischer.

European Union hand-over

Meanwhile, the EU's foreign policy co-ordinator, Javier Solana, has said that the 15 member bloc is in a position to take control of the mandate ahead of its scheduled take-over in January 2003. Solana hoped however that a deal is struck 'so that a vacuum is not created'.

If plans remain unchanged, the EU will send a 500-strong police force to take over from the current mission - a 1,500-member police training program that includes 46 American police officers.

Most of the EU's 2003 force is already in the region. But the mission could hit financial difficulties with the EU's koffers this year almost empty and a €12.2 million bill pending.

The Bundestag, Germany's lower house of parliament, is due to convene for a special season to discuss the renewal of the U.N. Bosnia peacekeeping mission during the summer break.