LONDON (AP) -- Britain confirmed on Thursday that it will sign a treaty to set up an international war crimes

tribunal, which is opposed by the United States.

Foreign Office Minister Tony Lloyd said Britain will sign the treaty at a Nov. 30 ceremony at the United Nations in

New York.

Britain was among 120 nations that agreed at a Rome conference in July to set up the world's first permanent war

crimes tribunal. The United States strongly opposed the project, saying it yielded too much prosecutorial power to the

new court and left U.S. troops and citizens vulnerable to potentially unfair prosecution.

The court will be empowered only to try crimes committed after it is set up.

Lloyd, addressing a parliamentary group, said the court was an important advance in international justice, human

rights and preventing future conflicts.

AP-NY-11-19-98 1158EST