SARAJEVO: WASHINGTON IS NOT PRESSURING BOSNIA

SARAJEVO, Aug 22 (Hina) - US Senators Fred Thompson and John McCain claimed in Sarajevo on Thursday that the US was not putting pressure on any country, including Bosnia-Herzegovina, to choose between Washington or the European Union with regard to the International Criminal Court (ICC). #L# The United States is not putting anyone in that position but some in the EU are doing that, Senator Thompson told journalists in Bosnia at the end of a two day visit to the country. He placed the entire responsibility for dramatising the issue of organising relations towards the ICC on some circles within the EU. Last week, the US government through its Ambassador in Sarajevo Clifford Bond stated that it was interested in signing a bilateral agreement with Bosnia that would guarantee immunity to US citizens against possible trails before the ICC. The head of the EU Mission to Bosnia, Hans-Joerg Kretschmer, not long after that announced that, when considering this matter, Bosnia should decide whether relations with the US were more important than those with the EU. Commenting on the latest misunderstanding between Washington and Brussels, Senator McCain said that as far as the ICC was concerned, both the US and the EU needed to take a deep breath and a step backwards to think about a possible solution that would be mutually acceptable, the ONASA news agency reported. Senator McCain emphasised that his country was the main power to preserve peace in the world and that the US does not wish to threaten its ability in implementing similar missions. (hina) sp/ha sb