Washington - The United States will suspend military aid to about 35 countries that didn't meet a deadline for exempting Americans from prosecution before the new UN international war crimes tribunal.

The nations cut off after Tuesday's deadline include Colombia, the main supplier of cocaine and heroin to the United States, where some assistance for fighting drugs could be in jeopardy.

White House spokesperson Ari Fleischer said the military aid cutoffs are "a reflection of the United States' priorities to protect" its troops.

"These are the people who are able to deliver assistance to the various states around the world, and if delivering aid to those states endangers America's servicemen and servicewomen, the president's first priority is with the servicemen and servicewomen," he said.

Overall, about $48-million in aid will be blocked, said state department spokesperson Richard Boucher.

Congress set a July 1 deadline for most recipients of US military aid to exempt US soldiers and other personnel from prosecution before the new United Nations International Criminal Court. The Bush administration fears the court could leave American personnel subject to false, politically motivated prosecutions.

Created under a 1998 treaty, the court was established to prosecute genocide, war crimes and crimes against humanity cases against nationals of countries unwilling or unable to try the cases themselves. Inaugurated in March, it was supported by 78 nations and is charged with prosecuting crimes committed after July 1, 2002.

The Clinton administration signed the treaty, but the Bush administration nullified the signature and has sought a permanent exemption from prosecutions. Those efforts have been blocked by the European Union, though the UN Security Council last year gave the United States a second one-year exemption.

US diplomats have pressed allies to approve bilateral agreements exempting Americans. Advocates of the court have accused the Bush administration of trying to bully weaker nations and of undermining an important advance in human rights.

Under the law approved by Congress last year, at least 27 foreign states were exempted from the military-aid cutoff, including the 18 other members of the Nato military alliance and the two largest recipients of military aid, Israel and Egypt. President George Bush could exempt other nations if he deemed it in the US national interest.

The Bush administration did not identify the nations whose aid will be suspended. Boucher said the list would be provided first to Congress. The State Department has identified 44 of the more than 50 nations that have signed agreements to exempt Americans from prosecution. Not all 44 were military aid recipients or are participating in the court.

The White House identified six nations that received full waivers: Gabon, Gambia, Mongolia, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Tajikistan. Sixteen more received waivers until November 1 or January 1 to give them time to complete their ratification processes.

Mongolia, Senegal, Botswana and Nigeria received waivers even though the State Department had not identified them as signing exemption agreements. The State Department did not say why they were included.

The aid suspensions are not likely to have a dramatic effect right away. Not all military assistance programmes are affected. Also, with only three months remaining in the federal fiscal year, most of the money budgeted for 2003 has already been spent.

Only about $5-million of the $600-million in this year's Colombian aid is at risk. Most of the remaining money has been already spent or was part of an anti-drug fund that is not considered military aid, even though some of the money goes to Colombian armed forces.

The effect could be greater in 2004. Of the $575-million requested by the Bush administration for Colombia, about $112-million could be jeopardised, according to state department figures.

Boucher said the effect on Colombia next year isn't known yet and that discussions with Colombia are continuing. Colombia says an existing agreement would prevent it from turning US soldiers over to the tribunal, but Boucher said it doesn't provide the exemption required by law.

With acknowledgements to Sapa and www.iol.co.za.