The Belgian court hearing the case against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon in Brussels will announce its ruling on its own right to try the case two months from now. Belgian law allows international figures to be tried for \"crimes against humanity,\" and Sharon is the test case: A suit has been filed against him for his role as Israeli Defense Minister when Christian Phalangists massacred 900 residents of Sabra and Shatila in Israeli-controlled Lebanese territory in 1982. Sharon\'s lawyers claim that the court has no right to rule on the case, and the court will rule on this question at the end of January 2002.
A suit against Yasser Arafat for his active role in murderous terrorist attacks over the past several decades was filed in the same Belgian court yesterday by Israeli and Belgian family members of Arafat\'s victims. IDF Chief of Staff Sha\'ul Mofaz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Arafat gave direct orders for major attacks against Israelis in February 2000.
A suit against Yasser Arafat for his active role in murderous terrorist attacks over the past several decades was filed in the same Belgian court yesterday by Israeli and Belgian family members of Arafat\'s victims. IDF Chief of Staff Sha\'ul Mofaz told the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that Arafat gave direct orders for major attacks against Israelis in February 2000.