Kuwait denies protection of Americans before International Criminal Court

An official Kuwaiti source has denied what was announced in New York on Saturday that Kuwait is preparing to sign an agreement with the USA on immunizing American citizens who are brought before the International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

In a statement to the Kuwaiti daily al-Watan issued yesterday, the Kuwaiti governmental source said that this issue is still under study and that Kuwait has not agreed to the said agreement. He indicated that negotiations are underway between the two sides to study this agreement.

The source also noted that the beginning of this agreement goes back to a meeting in Rome attended by delegations including 17 countries including Kuwait in order to discuss excluding the Americans from being brought before International Criminal Court.

The Kuwaiti source indicated that his country signed this agreement but did not ratify it so far and that this matter is under discussion.