'AMERICA SHOULD BE NEXT ON ICC LIST' - S.A. FOREIGN MINISTER

To a US official's worry that the International Criminal Court (ICC) may prosecute US leaders, Naledi Pandor replied, 'Of course!'

Speaking in Cape Town recently, South Africa's foreign minister affirmed her country's support for the ICC in its work to bring war criminals to justice.

Pandor said Pretoria would throw its weight behind ICC arrest warrants for US officials, if it came to that. She was alluding to US House of Congress Speaker Mike Johnson's statement that Washington intends to punish the ICC for issuing arrest warrants against top Israeli officials as a way to shield US officials from prosecution.

On 20 May, the ICC's prosecutor, Karim Khan, announced he filed applications to seek arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Defence Minister Yoav Gallant for possible war crimes and crimes against humanity committed in the Gaza Strip since 8 October.