Antigua & Barbuda agree not to hand over U.S. nationals to ICC

Carribean Net News reports (2 March 2005) that the government of Antigua and Barbuda have given in to a US request and agreed not to hand over US nationals accused of war crimes to the International Criminal Court (ICC). Antigua and Barbuda officials agreed formally to instead transfer such persons to the US for investigation and prosecution - as part of an official agreement between the two countries. The US Congress previously passed a law that prohibited the US government from providing military assistance to countries which did not sign the Article 98 Agreements. Prime Minister Lester Bird commented that "US support to our coast guard...is crucial both to search and rescue operations and to the interdiction of drug trafficking. The loss of this support has seen a significant increase in the amount of cocaine entering our territory and, in turn, this has spawned criminal activity." Find the full story here.