Egyptian lawyers want Israeli war criminals put on trial

CAIRO, (PIC)-- Prominent Egyptian lawyers affiliated with the Muslim Brotherhood Movement called on the Egyptian general-prosecutor to file criminal lawsuits against top Israeli political and military officials for the crimes against humanity they committed in Gaza. According to the lawyers, the Israeli occupation government and its "barbaric" army had deliberately violated the Geneva Fourth Convention stipulating the protection of civilians in time of war, adding that Egypt is a signatory of that convention. To present strong evidence against the Israeli defendants, the lawyers urged the attorney-general to take the testimonies of the Palestinian victims who receive medical treatment in Egyptian hospital, in addition to testimonies of Egyptian doctors attending to other victims in Gaza hospitals. All that evidence should be gathered to serve as strong basis for the case, and to pave the way to issue arrest warrants against the involved Israeli officials. The list of the Israeli war criminals comprised 26 names, on top of them are Israeli premier Ehud Barak, Israeli foreign minister Tzipi Livni, war minister Ehud Barak, and chief of staff Gabi Ashkenazi among others, mostly military officers. The IOF troops used internationally-banned bombs, including phosphorous bombs, in killing Palestinian civilians, reaping the lives of more than 1340 Palestinians and wounding more than 5500 of them within 23 days of the aggression. In a related matter, the leaders of the Muslim Brotherhood Movement Mahdi Akef urged Arab and Muslim peoples to keep the pro-Gaza momentum, explaining that the Israeli war on Gaza has not stopped. He explained that the IOF troops continue brutal aggression on the Palestinian people and densely populated areas across the Gaza Strip, especially at the northern and southern fronts. Akef also accused the West of protecting the Israeli oppressive government, and of striving hard to deny the Palestinians the right to resist the occupation of their country. He also deprecated the West's double-standard stands, saying they (the EU countries) were very much concerned about the life of captured Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, but paid no attention to the 11000 Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, at least 500 of them are women and children. In this regard, Akef reiterated his Movement's position that the Palestinian issue is the central issue of the Arab and Muslim Ummah that, he stressed, should be continuously supported by the entire Muslim Ummah. Finally, Akef called on Arab leaders and presidents not to stab the Palestinian resistance in the back, underlining that the Palestinian resistance is the "final defense line" of the Arab Ummah , and if it collapsed, Allah forbid, the entire Arab countries would be in great danger. Arab leaders' actions should reflect the pulse of their people, and the pulse in the Arab and Muslim streets, he emphasized. http://www.palestine-info.co.uk/en/default.