ICC members dismiss prosecutor Karim Khan over sexual assault allegations, sources say

Member states of the International Criminal Court voted on Friday to dismiss Karim Khan as prosecutor following allegations of sexual misconduct, two diplomatic sources told Reuters.

According to the sources, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss a sensitive matter, 82 of the court's 125 member states voted in favour of the prosecutor's removal.

Khan, 56, denies any wrongdoing and his lawyers have called the process that led to the vote unlawful, procedurally unfair and unsupported by evidence.

Khan's dismissal follows an announcement by the United States that it will launch a renewed diplomatic campaign to dismantle the ICC, which it says is a threat to its sovereignty.

Diplomats running the court's oversight body decided last month that the British barrister had an inappropriate ​sexual relationship with a junior ICC lawyer and should be fired. Member states largely followed that conclusion in a vote at the United Nations in New York on Friday.

RUBIO DECRIES 'LUNATICS' AT THE COURT

During a visit to the Philippines on Thursday, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio said there were "lunatics and crazies involved in the ICC" and there was no way any U.S. political or military officials would ever go on trial at the court, reiterating previous criticism.

The U.S., which is not a member, has imposed sanctions on 11 ICC judges and prosecutors, including Khan, citing ⁠the ICC's ​arrest warrants against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant, ​and a past probe into U.S. troops in Afghanistan.

ELECTION PROCESS TO BEGIN

Khan's accuser spoke publicly for the first time last week in an interview with CNN in which she repeated her allegations that the prosecutor had a non-consensual sexual relationship with her.

Lawyers for Khan told Reuters he denied "any sexual relationship of any kind" with the staff member.

Khan's dismissal immediately triggers the election process for a new ICC prosecutor who is not expected to be voted in before next year.

Any active ICC warrants will remain in place even if Khan is dismissed because only ICC judges have the authority to withdraw warrants.

(Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg in The Hague; Editing by Alison Williams and Rod Nickel)

-Reporting by Stephanie van den Berg; editing by Philippa Fletcher/Reuters