THE HAGUE, Feb 14 (Reuters) - The legal adviser to Belgium's foreign ministry said on Thursday he believed a war crimes lawsuit filed in Brussels against Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon would be dropped following the World Court's ruling that all serving ministers should be protected from prosecution.
"The Sharon case, in my opinion, is closed," legal adviser Jan Devadder told Reuters after the ruling by the U.N.'s highest judicial body.
The lawsuit against Sharon on genocide and war crimes charges has been delayed while a Brussels appeals court decides if Belgium has the right to prosecute the Israeli leader.
"They will have to take into account today's judgment. The judgment is clear: immunity for all ministers for all crimes while they are still in office."
Devadder added that it was no mistake that the Brussels ruling on Sharon was not scheduled to be released until after the World Court had given its ruling in the case of a Belgian arrest warrant issued for a former Congolese minister.
11:32 02-14-02
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