July 14, 2003	Monday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 13, 1424

BRUSSELS, July 13: In its first cabinet meeting after being sworn in, the new Belgian government said it would change the controversial war crimes and genocide law which had led to lawsuits against international leaders.

The altered law is expected to come before parliament before the summer recess, the first cabinet meeting decided.

The law allowed cases to be filed in Belgium against world leaders accused of crimes against humanity anywhere in the world.

Recently it had been used to initiate lawsuits against US President George W. Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair for their roles in the Iraqi war. A lawsuit had also been filed against Israel’s premier Ariel Sharon. Under the new law, cases can only be considered if there is a clear Belgian context to them. The alleged offender must now be a Belgian national or reside in Belgium.

Those who claim to be victims of war crimes must also be Belgian citizens or have lived in the country for at least three years.

The international human rights organisation Amnesty International reacted with disappointment to the announced change on Sunday, with Director Jan Brocatus saying that Belgium would lose its pioneering role.

Above all, the abolishment of the Belgian law was a backward step for the international movement’s protection of human rights, he said.

In changing the 1993 genocide law, the Belgian government was reacting to diplomatic pressure from the US and Israel.

US Defence Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently criticised the law and threatened to boycott a Nato meeting at the alliance’s Brussels headquarters.—dpa