ICC prosecutor defends dropping US from Afghan probe

The Hague. The International Criminal Court's prosecutor Monday defended omitting the United States from a probe in Afghanistan, saying the "worst crimes" were committed by the Taliban and the Islamic State group.

Rights groups criticised Karim Khan's decision in September to "deprioritise" the investigation into American forces, and focus instead on Afghanistan's new rulers and the rival IS-Khorasan outfit.

"I made a decision, based upon the evidence, that the worst crimes in terms of gravity and scale and extent seem to be committed by the so-called Islamic State Khorasan and also the Taliban," Khan told a meeting of ICC countries in The Hague.

"And I said I would prioritise these and I have asked the judges for authorisation to carry out those investigations," added the British prosecutor.

The ICC's Afghan probe into US crimes had long enraged Washington, and prompted the administration of president Donald Trump to impose sanctions on Khan's predecessor Fatou Bensouda.

The world's only permanent war crimes court launched a preliminary investigation in Afghanistan in 2006, and Bensouda asked judges to authorise a full probe in 2017.

Bensouda said there was "reasonable" suspicion of war crimes by both the Taliban, and by US forces in Afghanistan and the CIA in secret detention centres abroad.

The now-deposed government in Kabul then asked the court early 2020 to pause its inquiry while it probed war crimes domestically.

But Khan in September asked judges to relaunch the probe, saying the Taliban's takeover in August meant war crimes would no longer be investigated properly.

Judges have asked for more clarity over who is officially in charge in Afghanistan before deciding.

The British prosecutor meanwhile said that while the recent coup in Sudan had "caused a bit of a hiatus", he expected his team to be able to return soon to continue its war crimes probe there.

Khan visited Khartoum in August to sign a cooperation deal to push through a genocide trial for ex-dictator Omar al-Bashir over the Darfur conflict.

He added that the "time for change is ripe" at the ICC in general, reiterating earlier promises to focus on cases with a likely chance of conviction and drop those where successful prosecution is unlikely