Reply #9: U.N. council envoys clash on referring Libya to ICC [View All]

[steve2470]

http://www.reuters.com/article/2011/02/26/us-libya-un-idUSTRE71P26Z20110226

(Reuters) - U.N. Security Council diplomats clashed on Saturday over a proposal to refer the deadly crackdown against anti-government demonstrators in Libya to the International Criminal Court, council envoys said.

While there was broad support for a draft resolution of sanctions to punish long-time Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi and others of the North African country's ruling elite for attacks that have killed thousands of civilians, countries appeared split over whether to refer the issue to the rarely-used war crimes court.

It was unclear whether the call for an immediate ICC referral would be cut to get unanimous agreement on the other draft's other punitive measures.

The 15-nation council has referred only one other case to the ICC -- the conflict in Sudan's western Darfur region. The court has indicted Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir for genocide and other crimes against humanity in Darfur.