The United States is seeking bilateral agreements with European governments that would prevent US soldiers ever being prosecuted at the new International Criminal Court (ICC).
Europe agreed a compromise with Washington earlier this month granting immunity for one year to US soldiers to break the deadlock surrounding the new court that threatened the UN peacekeeping mission in Bosnia.
The German foreign ministry in Berlin confirmed the US approach yesterday but was anxious to play down its significance.
Spokeswoman Ms Antje Leendertse said it was too early to speak of talks and added that Berlin would first co-ordinate its decision-making with other EU countries before proceeding further.
Earlier this month, Mr Joschka Fischer, the German Foreign Minister, criticised as "unwise" the US threat to veto UN peacekeeping operations if its troops were not immune from prosecution at the ICC.
But Washington has already begun informal talks with several European governments to extend the existing immunity agreement, according to Germany's Handelsblatt newspaper yesterday.
"The attitude of the Germans is especially important to us in this matter," an unnamed US official told the newspaper. "Germany carries a lot of weight in Europe. The behaviour of the German government acts as a signal."
The US wants to protect its soldiers under Article 98 of the Treaty of Rome, which governs the court, by signing bilateral agreements with other countries not to pursue a case at the ICC.
The ICC was established at the start of this month to pass judgment on war crimes and crimes against humanity.
Washington withdrew from the treaty in May, fearing what it called "politically motivated prosecutions".
