Britain, Italy break EU ranks over court

Britain and Italy have broken ranks with EU colleagues, saying they are willing to negotiate bilateral accords with the United States in a row over a new war crimes court, diplomats said Aug. 31.

"Some countries are ready to negotiate. Others are not. In public, the only two countries which have expressed a different position are Italy and the United Kingdom," said one European diplomat.

"Berlusconi is trying to position himself as the best friend of the Americans, along with the British," said one diplomat on the sidelines of informal talks between EU foreign ministers in Elsinore, Denmark.

The row centers on the newly created Hague-based International Criminal Court, vehemently opposed by Washington, which fears its nationals could be subject to politically-motivated prosecutions under its jurisdiction.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell wrote to individual EU states earlier this month asking them to sign bilateral agreements granting immunity for U.S. nationals on their territories.

But the European Commission and several member states have pressed the EU to forge a common front on the issue rather than allowing Washington to divide them with bilateral accords.

Austrian Foreign Minister Benita Ferrero-Waldner spoke out openly about the need for a common position.

"There is a fundamental need for everyone to be open to prosecution," she told reporters. "It is important that there is no immunity," she added.

Diplomats from other member states also expressed disappointment. "Nothing must be done which could weaken the court," said one, adding that the fiercest opponents to such accords were France, Germany, Austria and Sweden.

Berlusconi confirmed Italy's readiness to negotiate with the United States.

"We are oriented to go to the signature of an agreement," he said on his arrival in Elsinore.

"We are not linked with EU positions, every country that signed the ICC statute did it for itself," he said.

Experts from the European Commission, the EU's executive arm, are to discuss the legal aspects of the situation next week in Brussels, officials said.