Belgian court say Sharon can be charged

Israel has recalled its ambassador to Belgium and fired off angry letters to King Albert and his government following a Brussels court ruling that Ariel Sharon can be charged with war crimes when he leaves office.

Prime Minister Sharon’s office in Jerusalem described the ruling as “a scandalous provocation.”

“We will not accept this blood libel,” said Israeli Foreign Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. “We will take action against it diplomatically, politically and in other ways.”

Belgium’s Supreme Court yesterday threw out an appeal by a group of Palestinians to try Sharon over the 1982 killings in a Lebanese refugee camp.

But the court left the door open for a future investigation against Sharon once he leaves office and loses diplomatic immunity.

Israelis are concerned that the Belgian ruling sets a precedent that could apply to any Israeli who has done his compulsory military service, with former officers and soldiers facing arrest in Belgium on charges arising from their wartime activities or for military operations in the West Bank and Gaza Strip.

The court also said an investigation could proceed against former Israeli army officer Amos Yaron, who was named in the complaint by the Palestinians.

Yaron, now director-general of the Israeli Defence Ministry, said Belgium was assuming for itself a moral authority to which it was not entitled.

“Who told the Belgians to go and judge people from other countries over things that happened in foreign countries,” he said today “It’s an attempt to cause international uproar.”

Israeli President Moshe Katsav’s protest letter to King Albert, said Israel’s leaders and soldiers act in accordance with international norms, Israeli law and human morality.

“The president totally denies Belgium’s moral right to bring Israeli leaders and officers of the Israeli army to trial,” the letter said.

Israel’s ambassador to Belgium, Yehuda Kenar, was called home and was due to arrive in Israel today.

Hard-liner Sharon was defence minister in 1982 when hundreds of Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps south of Beirut were slaughtered by a Lebanese Christian militia allied with the Israelis.

The Israeli forces had entered Lebanon several months earlier.

An Israeli inquiry found Sharon indirectly responsible and forced him to resign as defence minister in 1983.

A Belgian lower court dismissed the case against Sharon last year, saying the Israeli premier could not be tried for war crimes because he did not live in Belgium and enjoyed diplomatic immunity.

The Belgian Supreme Court upheld Sharon’s immunity yesterday but did not rule out any future case once he retires. It said charges could be brought against non-residents under Belgium’s 10-year-old “universal jurisdiction” law for war crimes cases.