UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Some 26 nations, including France, Italy and Spain, have signed the treaty for a new U.N international criminal court, shortly after its statutes were approved at a tumultuous Rome conference last Friday. The United Nations this week reported a total of 26 signatures for the court that would try individuals responsible for heinous crimes in the next century. They are Albania, Andorra, Bolivia, Cameroon, Congo, France, Georgia, Ghana, Greece, Italy, Liberia, Liechtenstein, Madagascar, Mali, Mauritius, Monaco, Namibia, Netherlands, Niger, Panama, Samoa, San Marino, Senegal, Spain, Switzerland and Zambia. Some 120 countries in Rome voted in favour of establishing the court to the dismay of the United States, which is worried about frivolous lawsuits against its soldiers abroad. The United States was one of seven states that voted against. But the court is not expected to be established for several years since 60 nations must sign and then send it to their respective legislatures for ratification. The United States said that it would seek changes in the treaty, which according to the statutes would not be possible for seven years. If that fails, State Department spokesman James Rubin said, Washington would „actively oppose“ ratification and implementation. Most Western democracies disagree with the U.S. position, saying that Washington‘s concerns were exaggerated and that domestic politics, such as a conservative Congress, were at work. France, which like the United States feared its troops abroad would be subject to prosecution, managed at the last minute to get a major concession that prompted Paris to join other European countries and approve the court. Under the approved statutes, nations that ratify the treaty for the court, which has jurisdiction over genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes, can reject its authority over war crimes for the first seven years of the tribunal‘s existence. In addition, the court cannot act unless the state of nationality of the suspect or the state where the crimes took place have ratified the treaty. This means the accused can travel to another country without fear of prosecution. Israel also voiced major objections to the court, saying that provisions on war crimes would make its settlements in the occupied West Bank and Gaza a crime. The relevant section was part of the 1949 Fourth Geneva convention, adopted four years after World War II, that says an occupying power cannot deport parts of its own civilian population into the territory it occupies. Israel has said that this did not apply to the settlements.