A Belgian appeals court ruled Wednesday that Belgium cannot investigate war crimes charges against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon related to a 1982 massacre in the Sabra and Shatilla refugee camps in Lebanon.

The three-judge panel, sitting in Brussels, said a case could not proceed against a person who is not in Belgium, despite a 1993 Belgian law granting Belgian courts "universal jurisdiction" over war crimes committed anywhere.

"If a person is not found on the territory, we find it inadmissible," the court said in its 22-page ruling.

The decision to throw out the case means Sharon can come to Belgium without fear of potential arrest, since a warrant can be issued only after an investigation, lawyers said.
Daniel Shek, an Israeli Foreign Ministry official who attended the proceedings, welcomed the decision.

"A trial that began with more politics than law happily ends with more law than politics," Shek said outside the courtroom. "We from the beginning trusted the Belgian courts, and I am happy that we were not disappointed."

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