Isreal:Olmert charged with war crimes

OSLO/RAMALLAH: A group of Norwegian lawyers filed a complaint yesterday accusing 10 Israelis of war crimes in Gaza under the country's new universal jurisdiction law, officials said. Former Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, Defense Minister Ehud Barak and opposition leader Tzipi Livni were among those named in the complaint, the lawyers said. Chief prosecutor Siri Frigaard told The Associated Press that she will now determine if there are grounds for charges or a police investigation. It was not clear how long the process would take. One of the attorneys who filed the complaint, Bent Endresen, said a Norwegian law that went into effect last year allows foreigners to face charges in Norway for war crimes, genocide and crimes against humanity committed anywhere in the world. "There was a legal change that now gives a universal jurisdiction" for such war crimes, he said by telephone. In a statement, the lawyers claim that Olmert, Livni, Barak and seven Israeli military officers shared responsibility for "massive terror attacks primarily directed at Gaza's population." The lawyers' statement said the complaint also covered killing civilians, destruction of property, use of banned weapons and attacks on such protected institutions as hospitals. The lawyers also claimed that Israeli leaders "knew about, ordered or approved the actions in Gaza and that they had considered the consequences." Norway's Foreign Ministry said the complaint was a matter for the legal system and not the government. Meanwhile, senior Palestinian negotiator Saeb Erakat said in Ramallah yesterday that US President Barack Obama would host Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in May. Erakat said the meeting is scheduled in Washington on May 28, 10 days after Obama is due to host Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who has so far refused to endorse the creation of an independent Palestinian state. "This is an extremely important meeting," Erakat told AFP. "President Abbas will ask President Obama to work toward the vision of two states and to introduce mechanisms toward that end, which will in effect mean the immediate stop to settlement activities in all Palestinian territories." Israeli settlements in occupied Palestinian territory — supported by Netanyahu's largely right-wing government — are one of the main stumbling blocks in the troubled peace process. Labeling Abbas' scheduled trip "a turning point for the Middle East peace process," his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina said Washington's efforts should be "accompanied by pressure on the Israeli government to clearly state its position." Netanyahu's government, which officially assumed office on April 1, has yet to formulate its policy on the stalled peace process, but the hawkish premier's refusal to publicly endorse the two-state principle may put ties with the United States under heavy strain. The Palestinians are demanding that Netanyahu back the two-state solution — to which Israel committed itself under the road map peace plan launched by the international community in 2003 — before the two sides resume their talks. The announcement of Abbas' trip came a day after Washington announced that Obama had invited Abbas, Netanyahu and Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak to visit the White House to try to advance peace efforts. Obama has vowed to vigorously pursue stalled efforts to solve the decades-long Israeli-Palestinian conflict and to signal a new US policy in the region.