Investigation of Sharon Halted Pending Hearing
Belgium has suspended a controversial inquiry of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for crimes against humanity until an appeals court rules on its legality, lawyers said.
The case involving Sharon’s alleged role in a 1982 massacre of Palestinians in Beirut’s Sabra and Shatila refugee camps has soured Belgium’s relations with the Jewish state and prevented the Israeli leader from visiting European Union headquarters in Brussels.
Belgian lawyer Michele Hirsch, representing Israel, said that the examining magistrate in the case, Patrick Collignon, had suspended his investigation and asked an appeals court to decide whether he has the jurisdiction to handle the matter.
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