War Crimes Accusations

Updated:23:13, Thursday June 19, 2003

War crimes lawsuits have been filed in Belgium against US President George Bush and British Prime Minister Tony Blair.

Authorities said Bush and Blair are among eight top officials implicated in the lawsuits.

Mr Bush and Mr Blair together

But the Belgian government has refused to handle the cases, referring them to the defendants' governments, reducing their chances of reaching a court.

Britain immediately said it would discard the Belgian lawsuit and take no further action on it.

One lawsuit accused Mr Bush, Mr Blair, US secretary of state Colin Powell, US defence secretary Donald Rumsfeld and US general Tommy Franks of crimes against humanity in the recent Iraq war.

A second lawsuit was against Colin Powell, also regarding the Iraq war.

A third was against Mr Bush, Mr Rumsfeld, US attorney general John Ashcroft, US national security adviser Condoleezza Rice and deputy defence secretary Paul Wolfowitz for crimes against humanity in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Belgian authorities declined to say when or by whom the lawsuits were filed.

In Greece, where Blair is attending a European Union summit with Belgian Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt, the British leader's official spokesman told reporters: "That is referred back to the UK. There will be no further action."