UNITED NATIONS, July 3: The European Union on Wednesday opposed a US proposal to end the impasse threatening UN peacekeeping missions as the Security Council met for last-ditch consultations on the mission in Bosnia.

If adopted, the US proposal, floated on Tuesday, would block any action by the new International Criminal Court (ICC) against a UN peacekeeper unless approved by the council.

The ICC is the first permanent court to try war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. It is expected to start work in The Hague in about a year, but its jurisdiction began Monday, July 1.

Ambassadors from the 15 European Union countries met early Wednesday, before council consultations started mid-morning.

A diplomat who took part said that both the British ambassador to the United Nations, Jeremy Greenstock, and his French counterpart, Jean-David Levitte, said their governments could not accept the US proposal as it stood.

The chairman of the preparatory committee working on details of the ICC, Philippe Kirsch, called an emergency meeting Wednesday to discuss the crisis.

On Sunday, the United States vetoed a six-month renewal of the 1,536-strong UN police-training mission in Bosnia after other council members rejected a demand to make its members immune to prosecution by the ICC.

The United States agreed to a three-day extension of the mission, to midnight Wednesday (0400 GMT Thursday) to allow time for further consultations.

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan and others have expressed fears for the future of some of the 14 other UN operations if a compromise cannot be found.

They include the 3,638 blue helmets stationed north of the Israeli-Lebanese border, one of the world’s most dangerous flashpoints.

The mandate of that mission, which includes no US military personnel, is for renewal July 31.

Amnesty International published an open letter to council members Wednesday urging them to vote against the US proposal, saying it would “undermine the rule of law.”

The proposal cites Article 16 of the ICC’s founding statute, which already gives the Security Council the right to block a particular action by the court.

“No investigation or prosecution may be commenced or proceeded with under this statute for a period of 12 months after the Security Council... has requested the Court to that effect,” the article says.

The US proposal would turn Article 16 into a blanket provision for past, present and future peacekeeping operations. It would be automatically renewed every 12 months unless the council decided otherwise.

Moreover, it would give states which have not ratified the ICC, such as the United States, “exclusive jurisdiction to investigate and prosecute” criminal acts committed by their nationals while on UN service.

“These proposals take away the jurisdiction of the International Criminal Court to decide these questions and as such violate the integrity of the Rome Statute,” Amnesty’s representative at the United Nations, Yvonne Terlingen, said.

Crunch time: Three UN peacekeeping operations are due for renewal this month, including its police-training mission in Bosnia. Details of the deployment of this and other missions follow, in order of date of expiry.

July 3: UNMIBH (set up in Dec 1995) trains new multi-ethnic police force in Bosnia. Includes 1,536 police (46 of them from United States) and three military staff.

July 15: UNMOP (Jan 1996) monitors ceasefire on Prevlaka peninsula between Croatia and Yugoslavia. Has 27 military observers. No Americans. Budget under UNMIBH.

July 31: UNIFIL (March 1978) set up to verify Israeli withdrawal from and help restore Lebanese authority in south Lebanon. Comprises 3,638 troops. No Americans. Budget: 143.9 million dollars.—AFP