BRUSSELS, May 21 : The lawyer seeking to have the commander of the US forces in Iraq tried for alleged war crimes on Wednesday attacked the Belgian government for passing the case over to US prosecutors.

Jan Fermon claimed the decision to refer charges against General Tommy Franks, commander of the US and British forces in the military intervention to overthrow Saddam Hussein, to the other side of the Atlantic was illegal and said he would take the affair to the country’s Council of State.

“At the beginning of next week (I shall seek) the suspension and then the cancellation of this decision from the Council of State,” Fermon, who represents 17 Iraqis and two Jordanians, told AFP.

Belgium’s “universal competence” law allows charges for alleged war crimes to be brought regardless of where they took place.

The charges against Franks allege that US troops in Iraq fired on ambulances, did not show due care in avoiding civilian casualties and failed to safeguard Iraq’s cultural heritage.

But on Tuesday the Belgian governmment decided to pass the case to US prosecutors on the advice of the federal prosecutor’s office, where the suit was filed last week.

It was the first time the Belgian government had used the powers conferred on it by recent changes to the law to transfer cases to the jurisdiction of the country of origin of the accused individual if it was satisfied he would be fairly treated.

But Fermon argued that the Belgian government, which resigned following last Sunday’s general election and is supposed to be operating as a caretaker administration, had no reason to act with such speed.

Furthermore, he argued, such an intervention was in absolute contradiction of the elementary principle of the separation of powers and he accused the Belgian government of “capitulating” to US pressure.

Some 30 current or former political leaders are facing legal action under the law, including Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat and former US president George Bush. —AFP