However, a growing number of governments has supported language that would support Common Article 3 of the 1949 Geneva Conventions which emphasies the need to uphold "elementary considerations of humanity" in all conflicts, whether international or internal.

"In our view, the distinction between international and non-international conflicts is increasingly becoming irrelevant, viewed in terms of the structure of universal peace and security," argued Bangladeshi Ambassador Muhammad Zamir.

"The centrepiece of our thoughts...must be the crime itself and its judicial redress, and not so much whether it is the product of an internal conflict or an external one," added Waleed Sadi, head of Jordan's delegation here. "A grave crime of the sort we are considering is a grave crime, wherever it may occur and whoever may commit it."

The problem remains, as French Foreign Minister Hubert Vedrine acknowledged, that many countries would still like to deny that crimes occurring during internal conflict can constitute war crimes. Although Vedrine regards such a distinction as "unacceptable", he warned it may be a complex task in coming weeks to define guidelines for prosecuting internal conflicts.

One of the difficulties is that many of the relevant legal precedents for prosecution of war crimes, including many passages of the Geneva Conventions, refer to "grave breaches" during international wars.

By contrast, some of the precedents for international involvement in internal conflicts are fairly recent. As Human Rights Watch notes in a recent report, the UN Security Council in recent years has determined that several internal wars constitute threats to international peace, including conflicts in Angola, Liberia, Haiti, Somalia and Sierra Leone.

Twice - in Somalia in 1993 and in Burundi in 1996 - the Council called for individuals to be held accountable for human rights violations in internal conflicts.

Regardless, dozens of nations are likely to resist the idea that such conflicts could come up before the ICC - a proposal which, if accepted, could place the Court in the uncomfortable position of dealing with the world's thorniest problems, from East Timor and Kashmir to Algeria and Colombia.

But with the tensions in nearby Kosovo on many delegates' minds, Bosnian Foreign Minister Jadranko Prlic hoped that "with our still fresh memories, (diplomats here) may recognise and indicate the wide range of crimes against humanity."