[24 March 2005] UNITED NATIONS,(Saba) - France is to put to a vote on Thursday a U.N. resolution referring Sudanese war crimes cases to the International Criminal Court, daring Washington to cast an embarrassing veto or accept a tribunal it opposes.

The council faces a Thursday deadline to approve a peacekeeping force to monitor the January peace accord that ended 21 years of north-south civil war in Sudan, Africa's largest country.

On Wednesday, France's U.N. ambassador, Jean-Marc de la Sabliere, introduced a draft resolution that would refer Darfur cases to the ICC, the world's first permanent criminal court, as recommended by a U.N. panel of experts in January.

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