| Muslims slam UK pledge to reform war crimes law |
| Updated at: 0625 PST, Thursday, December 24, 2009 LONDON: Britain's flagship Muslim organization on Wednesday attacked a government pledge to reform a war crimes law used to try to arrest visiting Israeli dignitaries, saying the move could hurt Britain's image in the Middle East. The Muslim Council of Britain said it was "deeply disappointed" that the country's foreign minister, David Miliband, promised to change the law so that judges could no longer issue secret arrest warrants against Israeli officials or military officers, saying the move was biased toward Israel. "You appear to be committing the government to the path of selective compliance with the enforcement of international law," the council's Secretary General Muhammad Abdul Bari wrote in a letter to Miliband. "This is surely not in the best interests of our country as it will add a further dimension to the double standards that our government is seen to have in relation to the politics of the Middle East." Britain is one of the European pioneers of universal jurisdiction, a broad legal concept that empowers judges to issue arrest warrants for nearly any visitor accused of committing war crimes anywhere in the world. Spain and Belgium have similar rules. Because ministers and heads of state tend to enjoy immunity, pro-Palestinian activists in Britain and elsewhere have often set their sights on former Israeli officials — most recently targeting Tzipi Livni, who served as foreign minister at the time of Israel's attack a year ago on the Gaza Strip. |
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