Belgium issues warrant for foreign minister

Belgium has now issued an international arrest warrant for DRC Foreign Minister Abdoulaye Yerodia, indicting him for crimes under international law, Belgian radio reported. The Belgian authorities announced their intention to issue the warrant last week, accusing the minister of charges of inciting racial hatred against ethnic Tutsis during speeches in August 1998 where he used words such as “vermin” and “extermination”. The radio said measures to enforce the warrant had been taken and international police services informed. Yerodia has been charged by the Belgian authorities on the basis of a 1993 law that allows those alleged to have committed crimes under international law to be prosecuted, regardless of where the alleged crime was committed. The rebel RCD-Goma welcomed Belgium’s decision. “It sends a message to reckless politicians in this region who use their tongues to cause trouble,” RCD foreign affairs representative Adolphe Onusumba told IRIN. “In South Kivu we are having problems because of such people.”