BRUSSELS, June 13 (UPI) -- Belgium responded with anger Friday to U.S. pressure to rescind war crime laws, and said it already addressed Washington's concerns.
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Belgium should revoke legislation giving its courts the power to prosecute foreigners for alleged war crimes committed anywhere in the world.
Belgian government officials also said Rumsfeld made the situation worse by threatening to move NATO headquarters.
The International Herald Tribune reported the Belgium foreign minister, Louis Michel, said, "We have changed it precisely to meet the fears of our American friends."
The law was changed to allow politically motivated cases to be transferred to the defendant's home country. This amendment has already been used. A lawsuit against General Tommy Franks brought by a group of Iraqis was moved to the United States.
But the United States has found this solution insufficient, the Herald Tribune reported. The United States wants the law stricken.
