- 19 Mar 2003 14:25
#3577
Seven Iraqi victims of the 1991 Gulf War have lodged an official war crimes complaint against former US President George Bush and Secretary of State Colin Powell.
The move, under a Belgian law allowing universal reach in war crimes, has been criticised by Powell - who questioned whether it would restrict his rights to attend meetings at Nato headquarters in Brussels.
Jean-Marie Dermagne, a lawyer for the seven, said the timing of the complaint was closely linked to the current Iraq crisis, and was aimed at highlighting the threat to innocent lives from a fresh conflict.
The complaint is also targeted against current US Vice President Dick Cheney, and retired commander of the US troops in Iraq, General Norman Schwartzkopf.
It centres on the bombing of the al-Amiriya shelter in Baghdad, on February 13 1991, which killed 403 people, including 52 children and 261 women. US officials believed the shelter was a command centre.
Mr Dermagne said: "Our action goes beyond the symbolic. It is as much political as it is legal." Belgian courts will now have to decide whether the complaint is admissible.
Powell said: "It affects the ability of people to travel in Belgium without being subject to this kind of threat. For a place that is an international centre they should be a little bit concerned about this."
Belgian foreign ministry spokesman Didier Seeuws insisted Powell was still welcome in Belgium, adding: "In his position, he enjoys immunity. He need not worry."
Under a 1993 law, Belgian courts can hear war crimes cases no matter who allegedly committed them or where. The law was strengthened in 1999 when Belgian courts also were allowed to hear cases of genocide and crimes against humanity.
So far the only people convicted under the laws are four Rwandans found guilty of involvement in the 1994 genocide in the central African nation.
© Associated Press