Sharon hearings close in Belgium

BRUSSELS, Belgium -- Hearings in Belgium into whether Ariel Sharon should stand trial for war crimes drew to a close on Wednesday as the Israeli prime minister's lawyers argued that their client was innocent.

Lawyers representing Palestinian survivors of the Sabra and Chatilla 1982 massacre in Lebanon who mounted the claims against Sharon already ended their submissions in late December.

The Israeli premier is among a string of past and present world leaders facing complaints before Belgian courts under laws introduced in 1993 and 1999 that allow for the prosecution of war crimes wherever they are committed.

But Sharon's lawyer Adrien Masset told the Belgian appeals' court that his client enjoyed diplomatic immunity and that the Israelis had already held an inquest into the massacre.

"Belgian law is not applicable," he said.

Michael Verhaeghe, lawyer for the survivors, said his legal team was "very confident" that the court would accept the case despite the Israeli appeals.

"The attorney general has very convincingly forwarded his arguments against all the objections like immunity and sovereignty," Verhaeghe said.

MORE STORIES • Belgium's legal trap for world leaders  • Q&A: Belgium's unique law     QUICKVOTE Should Belgium have the right to prosecute world leaders for alleged war crimes? Yes No View Results

The court is expected to decide late in February or early March if the case is admissible. Sharon's lawyers have argued that if the court takes on the case, it could violate international laws which protect the prime minister from prosecution.

Twenty-three survivors of the massacre at the Sabra and Chatilla refugee camps filed a complaint with a Belgian judge in June demanding Sharon's indictment for his alleged role in the killings of Palestinian refugees.

"I am hoping for the best," said Souad Srour al-Mereh, 33, one of the survivors who brought the case against Sharon.

The complaint also accuses other Israeli and Lebanese officials, but the only other one named in the complaint was Amos Yaron, then the Israeli army's commander in the Beirut area.

Sharon was Israeli defence minister in 1982 when 800 Palestinian civilians in the Sabra and Chatilla camps south of Beirut were slaughtered by a Lebanese Christian militia allied to the Israelis.

An Israeli inquiry into the massacre found Sharon indirectly responsible and he had to resign as defence minister. Yaron was also reprimanded and barred from field command positions for three years.

Magistrate Patrick Collignon opened his inquiry into Sharon in July after finding that the complaints warranted investigation.

If the appeals court decides to accept the case, Sharon could technically be arrested if he enters Belgium.

Other complaints

The first case to be tried under Belgium's war crimes law led to the conviction last month of four Rwandans, including two nuns, for their role in the 1994 genocide that left up to 800,000 compatriots dead.

They received sentences of between 12 and 20 years. Plenty more cases are in the pipeline.

Among the complaints lodged in Belgium are some against Iraq's President Saddam Hussein, Iran's former president Ali Akbar Rafsanjani, Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat, Cuban President Fidel Castro and Chile's former leader General Augusto Pinochet.

The case against the late Congo President Laurent Kabila was dropped when he was assassinated.

Belgian investigators are also looking into allegations against the presidents of Chad, Guatemala and the Ivory Coast.

The foreign minister of Morocco is also on their list. Some government officials say they believe it is only a matter of time before the law is used to lodge complaints against senior U.S. and European politicians.

Belgians want the rest of Europe to follow their lead, but until they do, the law is costing the government dear. Six investigating magistrates are assigned full time, following up on the complaints.