BRUSSELS: European Union governments are being urged to stand firm against United States demands for exemptions from the rules of the international criminal court amid signs that Britain is seeking a compromise.

The lobby group Human Rights Watch called on the EU not to give way when foreign ministers, including Jack Straw, discuss the contentious issue in Denmark.

With transatlantic ties already strained by the issue of Iraq, the current holder of the EU presidency, Denmark, aims to stop the dispute becoming a crisis, diplomats said.

The ICC, which is expected to start functioning in the Hague next year, was established to try individuals for genocide, war crimes and other human rights abuses.

The court has come to symbolize Europe’s commitment to multilateralism and international law, but, at the same time, it also signifies the determination of an unassailably powerful America to ignore its allies and get its own way.

The US, fearing politically motivated charges against its personnel, won a year’s grace from prosecution last month after threatening to veto all UN peacekeeping operations.

Washington is lobbying signatories to reach bilateral deals granting immunity to US citizens on their soil, although the European commission, has warned that such deals would fatally undermine the court.

The EU’s 15 member states formally reject the US position as unacceptable. But British calls to allow individual states to agree separate deals in defined circumstances seem likely to strike a chord with some members.

The US cites article 98 of the ICC treaty, which says signatories cannot be forced to cooperate with the ICC if it would clash with obligations to a third country.—Dawn/The Guardian News Service.