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US threatens to boycott Belgium over war crimes

The bitter dispute between the US and Europe over Iraq burst into the open again on Thursday when the US threatened Belgium with a boycott.

US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld warned Belgium at a NATO meeting to drop its controversial war crimes law or else face a boycott of NATO's Brussels HQ.

Belgium, a founder member of NATO, has a law giving it jurisdiction to try war crimes, genocide and other crimes against humanity wherever they are committed. The government has already been trying to water it down.

Rumsfeld condemned "divisive politicized lawsuits" such as the one threatening General Tommy Franks, the commander of US forces in Iraq.

The US is threatening to suspend its financial support for a new 400 million-euro building for NATO.

"It would obviously not be easy for US officials ... to come to Belgium," Rumsfeld said. "It would not make much sense to build a new headquarters if they can't come here for meetings."

"We will have to oppose any further spending for a new NATO headquarters unless we know for certain that Belgium will be a hospitable place," Rumsfeld told reporters at a meeting of NATO defense ministers.

With US politicians and military officials uneasy about coming to Belgium because of the war crimes legislation, "it makes no sense to build a new NATO headquarters," Rumsfeld warned.

"It is perfectly possible to meet elsewhere," the US defense chief insisted.

Asked if he wanted NATO to move to another country, Rumsfeld said, "What solution is found is up to Belgium and NATO ."

But with the controversial legislation in place, Belgium was not living up to its responsibilities as a NATO host nation, he warned.

Rumsfeld's comments threatened to plunge the 19-nation alliance, still recovering after fierce splits over Iraq, into another crisis.

Belgian Defense Minister Andre Flahaut insisted that American officials could continue to enter the country without fear of harassment.

Belgium opposed the war in Iraq, along with France and Germany, and then joined them in launching a separate EU defense initiative in April.

Rumsfeld's remarks overshadowed a meeting designed to introduce an overhaul of NATO's military command to allow it to fight terrorism and other threats far from Europe.

Even the normally low-key NATO Secretary General George Robertson admitted concerns over Belgium's so-called "universal competence" legislation which allows lawsuits to be filed in Belgian courts for war crimes committed by any person in any part of the world.

Much to Washington's dismay, cases have been filed recently not against General Franks, but also against former US president George Bush senior, US Secretary of State Colin Powell and US Vice President Dick Cheney.
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