Court 'can envisage' Blair prosecution
It'll never happen in a month of Sunday's but the world would be a much better place were there any likelihood of it seriously happening.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo, the International Criminal Court's chief prosecutor, has urged Iraq to sign up to the ICC in order that charges against Tony Blair and George Bush could be considered, which is possible in Blair's case because, unlike the US, Britain is a signatory to the ICC. Irony of ironies, it was Blair who signed us up.
It would be very interesting to see what would happen should Iraq sign up to the ICC and ask for charges against Blair to be brought.The court's chief prosecutor told The Sunday Telegraph that he would be willing to launch an inquiry and could envisage a scenario in which the Prime Minister and American President George W Bush could one day face charges at The Hague.
Luis Moreno-Ocampo urged Arab countries, particularly Iraq, to sign up to the court to enable allegations against the West to be pursued. Iraq's ambassador to the United Nations said that his country was actively considering signing up.
The idea of Blair facing some sort of criminal action for what he has done is so widespread in the UK that we have already had a TV drama made about such a possibility, setting out how he could one day be dragged off to the Hague.
Now, most of us will immediately shake our heads and say that this couldn't happen. I certainly know that this was my first reaction. However, until that cynicism is removed - and it can only be removed by the court taking exactly that kind of action against Western leaders as opposed to merely the leaders of smaller country's - then the world will be right to judge the court as pro-west and basically unjust.
The government of Sudan, who have been investigated by the court over it's actions in Darfur, has called upon the ICC to investigate the coalition's actions in Iraq.
Mr Moreno-Ocampo said it was frustrating that the court was viewed in the Arab world as biased in favour of the West. Asked whether he could envisage a situation in which Mr Blair and Mr Bush found themselves in the dock answering charges of war crimes in Iraq, he replied: "Of course, that could be a possibility, whatever country joins the court can know that whoever commits a crime in their country could be prosecuted by me."Leaving aside for a moment that delicious if improbable scenario, the one thing that seems certain is that Blair - like Rumsfled, Kissinger and Pincohet - will have to be very careful once he leaves office of exactly what travel plans he makes.
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