NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States will attend an International Criminal Court (ICC) meeting this week as an observer for the first time since the Hague court was set up in 2002, President Barack Obama's war crimes envoy said Monday.

Official says US to attend annual war crimes court meeting as observer for first time. The United States will attend an annual meeting of the International Criminal Court, a body it has so far refused to participate in, the U.S. envoy for war crimes said Monday.

NAIROBI (Reuters) - The United States wants Kenya to hand over a Rwanda genocide suspect it believes the east African nation has been harboring for years, President Barack Obama's war crimes envoy said on Monday.

As a first step towards winding up its presence in Sierra Leone, the UN backed Special Court on Sierra Leone on Monday turned over its jail to the government, which will make it a women's prison.

Sudanese parties on Monday condemned abuses in voter registrations for the first multi-party elections in 24 years set for April, calling for the enrolment period to be extended.

US envoy Scott Gration will return to Khartoum and Darfur this week as part of US diplomatic efforts to ease tensions in the region, the State Department said Monday.

Rwandan genocide court acquits priest of genocide charges and orders his release from jail. A United Nations court on Tuesday acquitted a Catholic priest charged with genocide, murder and extermination in Rwanda's 1994 genocide after the judge said the prosecution had failed to prove its case.

The UN Security Council has "strongly condemned" the ongoing attacks and acts of violence of Uganda's rebel Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) in the Great Lakes region of Africa.

JERUSALEM (Reuters) - U.S. President Barack Obama warned Israel Wednesday its approval of new construction in a Jewish settlement could prove "very dangerous" by fuelling Palestinian anger and harming prospects for peace.

Israel defended on Wednesday its decision to build hundreds of new Jewish homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem as US President Barack Obama warned the "dangerous" move pushed peace further away.

Israel on Wednesday defended its move to build hundreds of new homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem amid warnings that it was undermining US-led efforts to relaunch Middle East peace talks.

Israel defended on Wednesday its decision to build hundreds of new Jewish homes in annexed Arab east Jerusalem as US President Barack Obama warned the "dangerous" move pushed peace further away.

MAU FOREST, Kenya (Reuters) - Trudging out of the woods in a heavy downpour with a large sack roped to his back and two black chickens cradled in his arms, Eric arap Tuwei joins his wife and six children in a flimsy grass shelter.

A United States ambassador said Thursday that Washington was concerned about how aggression will be defined as an international crime.

US war crimes envoy addresses international court's ruling body in sign of softening hostility. The American war crimes ambassador said Thursday the U.S. is committed to ending impunity for crimes against humanity, in a speech signaling a softening of hostility toward the International Criminal Court.

THE HAGUE (Reuters) - U.S. ambassador-at-large for war crimes issues Stephen Rapp made a debut appearance for the United States at the world's war crimes court Thursday and said the U.S. remained wary of politically driven prosecutions.

The UN war crimes tribunal on Thursday appointed a London lawyer to represent Radovan Karadzic during his genocide trial, a legal adviser to the Bosnian Serb wartime leader said.

NJ dad trying to get son back from Brazil to testify before congressional human rights panel. A New Jersey man who's been battling in Brazilian courts to get custody of his 9-year-old son is scheduled to testify before a congressional human rights panel in Washington.

Qatari-hosted talks between the Sudanese government and Darfur rebels due to begin on Monday in Doha have again been postponed, a mediator said on Sunday, amid a lingering split in rebel ranks.

The stakes rose in Honduras Sunday after ousted leader Manuel Zelaya, holed up at Brazil's embassy in Tegucigalpa, called on his supporters for a final offensive -- and coup leaders respond by giving Brazil a harsh warning.