US:The United States has ended a policy of sanctions against member states of the International Criminal Court, easing fears for the court's future.
Until now Washington had blocked aid payments to some of the world's poorest nations if they refused to give Americans immunity from the new court.
But the White House has now announced presidential waivers releasing aid payments to all but three of the penalised nations. Ireland is one of the three and funds will continue to be withheld from the International Fund for Ireland.
Court officials hope the move will encourage more nations to join the court, which has 104 member states.
Washington has given no official reason for the return of the funds, but human rights groups say it is recognition that the new, Democrat-controlled Congress, would be unlikely to support the sanctions when it takes office in January.
"An important transition is under way," said Richard Dicker of Human Rights Watch. "Its [ Washington's] policy has blown up in its face."
The International Criminal Court is the world's first permanent war crimes court and since it opened in 2002 Washington has put economic pressure on states not to sign up, or if they do, to give Americans immunity.
Sources in The Hague say that strong opposition to the White House sanctions policy came from a surprising source - the US army.
America's sanctions policy has been fiercest in South America, where, like the EU, nations have joined the court en bloc.
As a result, not only economic aid but military assistance and anti-drug programmes have been curtailed.
But last year, Gen Bantz Craddock of the Pentagon's southern command told Congress that the result was that South American nations were turning to China for military assistance.
He told congressmen that Washington had lost big arms contracts and harmed relations with its allies and warned that the immunity issue meant "negative effects on long-term US security interests".
Since the departure of defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld last month pressure for a rethink from the Pentagon has mounted. "By threatening to deny much-needed economic assistance to some of our key allies, the administration was cutting off its nose to spite its face," said Golzar Kheiltash of Citizens for Global Solutions, a Washington-based human rights group.
A total of 14 states will now have the aid tap switched back on, including Bolivia, Cyprus, Kenya, Mali, Paraguay and South Africa. But sanctions remain against three states, Brazil, Venezuela and Ireland.
Irish officials will this week seek answers as to why contributions will continue to be withheld from the International Fund for Ireland.
Ireland, along with all EU states, decided not to give blanket immunity to Americans.
In 2002 Washington threatened to pull troops out of Bosnian peacekeeping operations unless they were given immunity from international court prosecution.
Later it threatened to block Nato membership for states including Latvia, Lithuania and Romania unless they gave America immunity.
Romania has since caved in and signed an immunity deal with Washington.
The news was welcomed by delegates at the international court's annual meeting of member states in The Hague last week. Despite a membership of more than half the world's states, the court is critically short of funds, with a budget for the coming year of €93 million.
Shortages of cash are blamed by some officials for the slow speed of prosecutions.
After four years, the ICC has only a single suspect in its Hague detention centre - Congo warlord Thomas Lubanga, who is due to go on trial early next year on charges of recruiting child soldiers.