The US government requested the Namibian Chief of Defence, Lieutenant General Solomon Hawala, to give US soldiers immunity from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. In a letter the US requested the defence boss to "advise" the government of Namibia to sign an agreement with the US in terms of Article 98 of the ICC, which stipulates that the ICC cannot insist that one country hands over a suspect being a national of another state if the surrender is in conflict with immunity agree-ments between those two countries.

The Namibian reported that the letter was accompanied by a "reminder" from the US government informing Namibia it might lose military assistance from the US if it does not sign an immunity agreement with the US. Washington provided US$200 000 in military training and education to Namibia last year. Current military assistance might not be affected but programmes where funding was not secured by 1 July 2003, will be suspended. The US government on 1 July stopped US$48 million of aid to 35 countries, including Namibia, because of the immunities agreements not signed. The Namibian parliament ratified the ICC agreement on 2 July.

Meanwhile thousands of South Africa from all walks of life protested against US President Bush, who visited that country on Wednesday. Slogans like "Go home" and "Africa’s Policeman" decorated posters.