WASHINGTON (AP):

Long-held US antagonism to the Inter-national Criminal Court (ICC) could soften under a new president, but that does not mean that either Democrat Barack Obama or Republican John McCain is ready to sign on.

Both Obama and McCain generally favour the concept of a standing tribunal to deal with war crimes, but they share President George W. Bush's anxiety about the potential of politically motivated prosecutions of US officials or soldiers.

They do not share, however, what has been, at times, Bush's outright hostility to the court.

Obama "has a wait-and-see, go-slow approach. The policy is unchanged from where he has been," said Mark Lippert, a foreign affairs adviser for the Illinois senator. McCain's campaign did not respond to requests for comment, but, in a written response to questions from an international legal affairs organisation, the Arizona senator said, "I want us in the ICC but I'm not satisfied that there are enough safeguards."

The court hardly has been mentioned during the campaign for the November 4 elections.

"Is it in the same league as nonproliferation, Iran, Afghanistan? No," Lippert said. "But it registers on (Obama's) radar."

Created by the Rome Statute in 1998, after years of negotiations, the ICC was seen as a permanent extension of the Nuremberg war crimes trials that judged Nazi war crimes suspects after World War II. The new court's jurisdiction covers war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

Lack of accountability

The court is not an organ of the United Nations, but the UN Security Council can refer cases to its prosecutor or temporarily suspend but not cancel investigations. It is that lack of accountability to the Security Council, where the United States has a veto, that worries many US policymakers.

The cautionary tone about the court began with Bush's predecessor, President Bill Clinton. He did not sign the Rome Statute until December 31, 2000, three weeks before Bush was to move into the White House.

Clinton recommended that his successor follow his lead and refrain from seeking Senate ratification of the document "until our fundamental concerns are satisfied".