The Hague - For the first time in 10 years, a US delegation is attending the annual meeting of the International Criminal Court in The Hague on Wednesday.

Stephen Rapp, the US' new war crimes ambassador and former chief prosecutor of the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) in The Hague, is heading the US delegation, which has observer status at the meeting.

The last time the US participated in talks about the ICC was in 1998, during final negotiations for the Statute of Rome, which established the court.

The 110 countries that have since ratified the document have convened in The Hague for the so-called Assembly of States that continues through November 26.

Reaching a consensus on a new definition of war crimes and crimes against humanity, to be incorporated in an amended Statute of Rome, ranks at the top of the agenda.

The ICC, an independent, permanent court operating under the auspices of the United Nations, aims to prosecute the most serious war crimes and crimes against humanity.

Former US president Bill Clinton initially signed the Statute of Rome, but his successor George W Bush annulled the signature, fearing the ICC might prosecute US military that fought in Iraq and Afghanistan.

Earlier this week, Rapp said his government had decided that the US should be involved in the ICC, but added his country aimed at prosecuting "those criminals for war crimes that would not be prosecuted in their own countries".

Rapp however said it would take "several years" before the US would ratify the Statute of Rome and recognize the jurisdiction of the ICC.

Since the ICC began operating in 2002, it has investigated war crimes and crimes against humanity in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, the Central African Republic and Sudan's Darfur region.

On November 24, former Congolese rebel leaders, Germain Katanga and Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui, will become the first to stand trial in the ICC for murder. They are accused of having orchestrated the killing of around 200 civilians in the east Congolese village of Bogoro in 2003.

In January, Thomas Lubanga, also a former Congolese rebel leader was the first person to be tried by the ICC. He was charged with war crimes, including recruiting and deploying child soldiers in the conflict. (dpa)