(U.S. State Department) Secretary of State Michael R. Pompeo - U.S. Secretary of State Pompeo said Friday: "Today, the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC), Fatou Bensouda...asked the ICC judges to confirm that the Court may exercise jurisdiction over the West Bank, east Jerusalem, and Gaza. By taking this action, the Prosecutor expressly recognized that there are serious legal questions about the Court's authority to proceed with an investigation." "We firmly oppose this and any other action that seeks to target Israel unfairly....We do not believe the Palestinians qualify as a sovereign state....The United States also reiterates its longstanding objection to any assertion of ICC jurisdiction over nationals of states that are not parties to the Rome Statute, including the United States and Israel....The United States respects the decision of those nations that have chosen to join the ICC, and in turn, we expect that the decision on the part of the United States and Israel not to join and not to place our personnel under the court's jurisdiction will also be respected."
2019-12-23 00:00:00Full ArticleBACK Visit the Daily Alert Archive