Belgium says scraps controversial war crimes law
By Haaretz Staff and Reuters
July 12, 2003

http://www.haaretzdaily.com/hasen/spages/317206.html

BRUSSELS - Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said his new government,
sworn in Saturday, has decided to scrap a controversial war crimes law
which saw cases launched against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, U.S.
President George W.Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair. Vrhofstadt
told a news conference the move was aimed at preventing abuses of the law,
which has led to a diplomatic storm between Jerusalem and Brussels, as well
as angering the United States. The law led to Palestinian petitions
against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for his involvement in the Sabra and
Chatila slaughter in Lebanon in 1982. In protest, Israel recalled its
ambassador to Belgium, Yehudi Kenar, earlier in the year. He was sent back
four months later, following requests by the Belgian Jewish community. "I
think we have definitely solved this question," Verhofstadt said, hours
after his government had been sworn in by King Albert II on Saturday. The
law gave Belgian courts the power to try war crimes cases no matter where
they were committed. In future, the right to launch cases would be
restricted to Belgians or people resident in the country. All cases apart
from those involving Belgians would be dropped, he said. The norms of
international immunity would also be respected. Any cases that were
launched would take into account Belgium's agreements with NATO allies and
other European Union members. The law led Belgium other
diplomatic difficulties. U.S. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has said
Washington would be reluctant to send U.S. officials to Brussels for
meetings at NATO headquarters and that it was opposed to any further
spending on a new alliance headquarters. Belgium had already taken steps
to soften the law, but Verhofstadt's move is aimed at definitively
narrowing its scope.