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The White House reacted outraged. The Belgian Defense Minister Andre Flahaut spoke out against a vote for the incumbent president. Foreign secretary Powell took to the phone immediately. Brussels: If I was an American, I would vote for a Democrat said the socialist Flahaut in an interview, which Washington interpreted as "unacceptable meddling". Flahaut criticised the Defense Policy of the United States as inefficient. "If they have to move 15 people from point A to point B, the Americans have to use 3 planes to make sure that it succeeds." The White House asked foreign minister Powell to call his...

<p>BRUSSELS, Belgium — The Belgian High Court threw out a war crimes complaint Wednesday against retired Army Gen. Tommy Franks, backing a lower court ruling that Belgium had no jurisdiction in the case against the commander of the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq.</p>

Rome, Oct 3 - Belgian Defence Minister Andre Flahaut revealed Friday that in June Rumsfeld jokingly threatened to send him to jail if he dared to appear at the meeting of NATO Defence Ministers in Colorado Springs in the western United States on Octobe r 8 and 9. Rumsfeld, alongside other top US officials, had been targeted by Belgium's law of universal competence, which enabled Belgian tribunals to hear any war crime case regardless of where it was committed. The law was repealed in August following heavy US pressure, to the obvious relief of Flahaut. "At least I am somewhat...

BRUSSELS, Belgium - Belgium's highest court on Wednesday threw out a war crimes complaint against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and a case against former U.S. President George Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell. The ruling by the Cour de Cassation is expected to soothe diplomatic relations with the United States and Israel, which had hit their lowest points in decades because of the court complaints. A statement released by the Israeli embassy in Brussels said that "the ruling will enable us to rehabilitate the relations between the two nations." The cases were based on a Belgian universal jurisdiction law...

BRUSSELS (AFP) - The Belgian lawyer who angered Washington by launching a war crimes case against the former US military commander in Iraq, Tommy Franks, said he was appealing against the government's decision not to pursue his suit in Belgium. Lawyer Jan Fermon said he would ask the Brussels appeals court to revive his case against General Franks at a hearing scheduled for September 9, arguing that new legislation outlawing such prosecutions should be ruled illegal. "Once a country accords certain rights on the basis of an international convention, it can't go back on that," Fermon said. Fermon's original lawsuit,...

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- "Sentence first, verdict afterwards!" the Queen decrees in Lewis Carroll's "Alice in Wonderland," a miscarriage of justice to which poor Alice attempts to object. "Hold your tongue!" the queen retorts, before adding, "Off with her head!" That may be amusing in a children's book. It is far less so when it describes the judicial philosophy of the United Nation's misbegotten International Criminal Court (ICC). Created by the so-called Statute of Rome in 1998, the ICC was ratified by fewer than one-third of the world's nations, representing only 17 percent of the world's population. In the closing moments...

Belgian prime minister Guy Verhofstadt's new government has announced its intention to repeal Belgium's controversial war-crimes law, also known as the "universal-competence" law. Good riddance.The war-crimes law granted Belgian courts the authority to try any alleged war criminal, irrespective of where, when, and against whom his crimes may have been committed. Belgium's ill-conceived statute failed to bring even one war criminal to justice — though Belgian courts did become the venue of choice for groups seeking indictments against "war criminals" such as Henry Kissinger, Ariel Sharon, Tony Blair, Dick Cheney, Donald Rumsfeld, Tommy Franks, and both of the Presidents Bush....

BRUSSELS (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush and Prime Minister Tony Blair will be able to visit Brussels without fear of arrest after Belgium voted to scrap a controversial war crimes law under strong U.S. pressure. A large majority of the lower house of parliament passed a bill late on Tuesday quashing the universal jurisdiction law, under which cases were launched against Bush, Blair and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. The law soured diplomatic relations between Brussels and Washington after complaints were filed against high-ranking U.S. officials on allegations of war crimes during the war in Iraq. That...

The International Criminal Court, designed to prosecute the perpetrators of genocide, may soon be unleashed against the world’s leading defenders of human rights: the United States and Great Britain. Although the United States has immunity from prosecution at this time, cases already pending at the ICC and other EU courts show the danger American troops – and commanders – would face if they ever become subject to an international court’s jurisdiction. These cases also demonstrate how the Left is willing to abuse and trivialize forums meant to end genuine human misery in order to make a political point.Ending the...

The lower house of parliament in Belgium has approved a bill amending a controversial war crimes law which has led to cases being filed against several world leaders including President George W Bush and the Israeli Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon. Under the existing law, Belgian courts are empowered to try anyone for war crimes regardless of their nationality and regardless of where the alleged crimes are committed. The new bill will limit the jurisdiction of the courts to cases only involving Belgian citizens and residents. Correspondents say that, with several international organisations having their headquarters in Brussels, the government was...

Belgium Scraps War Crimes Law Which Angered U.S. Sat Jul 12, 5:06 PM ET Add World - Reuters to My Yahoo! By Patrick Lannin BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium said Saturday it has decided to scrap a controversial war crimes law which has seen cases launched against President Bush (news - web sites) and Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon (news - web sites). Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said his new government, sworn in Saturday, has decided as one of its first acts to scrap the law which has angered the United States. He told a news conference the move was...

The Belgian government has decided to repeal a controversial war crimes law that has been used in attempts to indict leaders around the world for crimes against humanity. The "universal competence" law will be withdrawn and replaced with a new text that has considerably less scope and is more in line with other western countries, Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt told a press conference. The 1993 law dragged Belgium into a diplomatic minefield as cases were brought against US President George W Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair, among others, accusing them of war crimes over the war in...

<p>BRUSSELS, Belgium - Changes to Belgium's war crime laws to prevent complaints against President Bush and other U.S. officials shouldn't derail a case against Fidel Castro, an American group that filed charges against the Cuban leader said Tuesday.</p> <p>Under pressure from the United States, the Belgian government has proposed altering the law that allows its courts to try crimes against humanity anywhere in the world.</p>

BRUSSELS, Belgium - After a taste of the sour political mood in Brussels, I can only wonder how President Bush will feel today, during his annual summit meeting with leaders of the European Union. As these meetings are held in the White House, Mr. Bush hardly has much of a choice -- short of sending Laura down to see these gentlemen instead. It is certainly time to find a more civilized tone between the United States and the European Union, whose member countries found themselves in massive disagreement over U.S. policy in Iraq -- with France, Germany, Belgium and Luxembourg...

Now, Before everyone stops fraking out about this being from Jeff Rense's site.......I just thought it would be way too much fun........enjoy!! Belgium Neuters Its International War Crimes Law By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard in Brussels 6-24-3 Belgium's political leaders have agreed to neuter the country's war crimes legislation, which gave its courts a claim to jurisdiction over alleged violations of human rights committed anywhere in the world. Donald Rumsfeld said the law rendered Belgium unfit to be a host nation to Nato Embarrassed by war crimes charges against Tony Blair and President George W Bush, the Belgian prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt,...

Belgium's political leaders have agreed to neuter the country's war crimes legislation, which gave its courts a claim to jurisdiction over alleged violations of human rights committed anywhere in the world. Embarrassed by war crimes charges against Tony Blair and President George W Bush, the Belgian prime minister, Guy Verhofstadt, said parliament would restrict the 10-year-old law to cases in which either the victim or the accused were residents of Belgium. That will prevent political agitators using the courts for their own aims. The climbdown came days after Donald Rumsfeld, the US defence secretary, ordered a freeze on $350 million...

Should the United States permit Gen. Tommy Franks, the commander of allied forces in Iraq, to be prosecuted in Belgium for alleged war crimes committed during the recent war? Most Americans would say, "You have to be kidding; that could never happen." But little Belgium, trying to be a player on the world stage, has adopted what it calls a universal-jurisdiction law. It purports to give Belgium jurisdiction over war crimes committed anywhere in the world and give Belgian judges the authority to hear complaints brought by anyone. Already on file are complaints not only against Gen. Franks, but also...

Belgium has bowed to US pressure and agreed to limit the scope of its controversial war crimes law. American officials signalled that the changes might defuse a row which has led to the threatened boycott of Nato's Brussels headquarters and soured relations between the two countries. Nato's secretary general, Lord Robertson, said last night that he hoped a "major crisis" had been averted. The "universal competence" law has been used to target Tony Blair, Yasser Arafat and Ariel Sharon, as well as former President George Bush. In its original format, dating back to 1993, the law allowed virtually anyone to...

Belgian minister sued under own human rights law http://famulus.msnbc.com/FamulusIntl/reuters06-20-071728.asp?reg=EUROPE#body Belgian minister sued under own human rights law By Bart Crols BRUSSELS, June 20 — Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel became the latest public figure to fall foul of his country's controversial human rights law on Friday when an opposition party said it was filing a suit against him.  Belgium has been sharply criticised, especially by the United States, for a law empowering its courts to try foreigners for war and human rights crimes, no matter where committed.        The list of statesmen targeted by suits under the law...

By PAUL AMES .c The Associated Press BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) - Facing a U.S. threat to force NATO's headquarters out of Brussels, the Belgian government agreed Sunday to change a war crimes law used to target President Bush and other prominent Americans. The amendments would reduce the law's global ambitions, limiting the reach of Belgian courts to cases with a direct link to the country, such as when victims or suspects are Belgian citizens or residents. As it stands, the unique 1993 law allows charges to be brought regardless of where war crimes took place. First applied against Rwandans implicated...