Iran wants world Islamic court for war crimes

Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad attends the opening of the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) summit in Doha December 3, 2007.

TEHRAN (Reuters) - Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, who accuses the West of monopolizing power in world bodies, proposed on Tuesday setting up an international Islamic court to try war criminals and other human rights violators.

The president gave few details about his proposal, made at a meeting of judiciary chiefs from Islamic countries. But he repeated his assertions that bodies like the U.N. Security Council were being manipulated by the West.

"Today it is necessary to create an international Islamic court for pursuing and following international criminals, those who violates the rights of nations, war criminals and governments ..." Ahmadinejad said in a televised speech.

The international community already has two courts, one to deal with criminals and another that handles disputes between states. Both are based in The Hague.

The International Criminal Court was set up in 1998 to try cases such as war crimes. The International Court of Justice was established in 1946 to resolve disputes between countries and is the highest legal authority of the United Nations.

"Some international organizations, specially the Security Council, have not been formed based on justice. The way this council is governed is a symbol of injustice with global effects," the Iranian president said.

"In this council, some members with special rights are the complainant, the prosecutor and the judge all at the same time ... They enjoy complete immunity," he said.

Ahmadinejad, whose country implements Islamic law or sharia, has accused the United States and its allies, like Britain, of abusing their power after World War Two in imposing a world order that ignores the rights of others.

(Reporting by Zahra Hosseinian, writing by Edmund Blair, editing by Tim Pearce)