August 6, 2009, Nairobi, Kenya - Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said Thursday it was "a great regret" that the United States was not a member of the International Criminal Court, an institution that has long been treated warily by the Pentagon.

Clinton, in a spirited town hall meeting at the University of Nairobi, was asked by a student how Washington could support having the international court intervene in Kenya's problems when the U.S. government had not subjected itself to the court's procedures.

Clinton said it was "a great regret but it is a fact" that the U.S. government was not a member of the court. "But we have supported the court and continue to do so."

She added: "I think we could have worked out some of the challenges that are raised concerning our membership by our own government, but that has not yet come to pass."

In December 2000, Clinton's husband, then-President Bill Clinton, signed the treaty setting up the International Criminal Court, despite what he called "concerns about significant flaws." But he did not submit it to Congress for ratification. Months later, the Bush administration in effect withdrew that signature. The Obama administration has not made any move to join the court.

The Pentagon has long worried that the international war crimes court could unfairly target American military personnel stationed around the globe. Some legal experts, however, say the U.S. government had won important concessions to ensure protection of American servicemen and servicewomen.

The Kenyan government and opposition have agreed to allow the court to prosecute people accused in a wave of 2008 post-election violence in Kenya, although the cases could also be referred to a special Kenyan tribunal.

At Thursday's town hall, Clinton criticized Kenyan officials for moving slowly on the prosecutions and promised reforms.

Clinton, who is on an 11-day, seven-nation tour of Africa, appeared at the town hall after a ceremony honoring the victims of the 1998 bombing of the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi. She laid a wreath of white flowers at a stone plaque inscribed with the victims' names, located in a park on the site of the destroyed embassy, and met with survivors.

Clinton said the park was a reminder of "the continuing threat of terrorism, which respects no boundaries, no race, ethnicity or religion." The bombing, carried out by al-Qaeda, killed 218 people.

Washington Post