NATO will call a meeting to consider the fate of its peacekeeping mission in Bosnia today if Washington blocks renewal of a Security Council endorsement due to a row over the International Criminal Court (ICC).
A NATO official said the 19 nations of the alliance generally agreed that the mandate of the Dayton Accord which ended the Bosnian war in 1995 was enough to allow the mission to go on.
Nearing an early morning deadline, Irish time, the UN Security Council last night searched for a compromise that could avert a threatened shutdown of the UN Bosnia mission.
Council diplomats said a US plan quietly circulated was supported by only three or four of the council's 15 members, with the others - including longtime US allies Britain and France - unable to back it as currently drafted. As council texts need at least nine votes - and no veto - to pass, US diplomats said they would try for a fresh plan that could win acceptance for Washington's proposal to give some nations' peacekeepers immunity for a year and link prosecution after that to a UN vote.
"There's a chance the problem may be solved. We're working on it," British Ambassador Mr Jeremy Greenstock, this month's Security Council president, said after a closed-door discussion of the US plan.
In that session, just one nation - China - spoke out in favor of the US proposal, diplomats said.
The Irish Defence Force's contingent of 55 soldiers serving in Sarajevo were last evening making preparations to leave the mission as the talks continued.
The withdrawal of the Irish troops will not have a significant impact on the mission which is composed of 18,000 troops from 34 NATO and non-NATO countries. The Irish troops serve with the NATO-led Sfor (Stability Force) in Sarjevo under the auspices of the UN-mandated Interim Mission in Bosnia Herzegovina (UNIMBH).
The Defence Forces yesterday reiterated that it was waiting the final outcome of the talks at UN and NATO level before making any arrangements.
The Irish contingent has been in Sarjevo since 1997 on rotating six-month tours of duty.
On Sunday night, the US vetoed a resolution extending the mandate of the UN and NATO's peacekeeping operations in Bosnia to send the message it would not allow its peacekeepers to be subject to the new court. It later agreed to a three-day extension of the mandate.
Washington has refused to ratify the ICC, claiming it fails to provide sufficient protection to its military and civilian personnel involved in peacekeeping. EU diplomats said there were stringent safeguards in the ICC treaty. China, Russia, India and Israel, have also continued to oppose the court, along with the US, arguing that their citizens could be the target of politically motivated prosecutions.