Iran asks Interpol to arrest Israeli war criminals
Mon, 02 Mar 2009 22:02:21 GMT
Tehran's Public Prosecutor Saeed Mortazavi
Interpol begins studying Iran's request for the arrest of 15 senior Israeli officials over war crimes committed during the Gaza offensive.

At a news briefing on Sunday, Tehran's Public Prosecutor, Saeed Mortazavi, said that Iran had referred the case to the International Criminal Police Organization (ICPO or Interpol), drawing on the organization's charter and Israel's violation of the Geneva Conventions.

"Governments of 180 countries have received the information necessary for identifying the suspects," he said.

In a Monday statement, Iran's judiciary said that it has asked Interpol to issue an international Red Notice security alert for the 15 Israeli officials who were involved in the 23-day Israeli offensive on Gaza.

The statement added that the judiciary was also looking into complaints made against 100 other Israelis, with top military and government posts.

In December 2008, Iran's judicial body announced a decision to set up a court to investigate complaints, made by wounded Gazans against Israel and delivered to Iran by the Palestinian envoy.

The judiciary said that it would be ready to try the implicated Israeli officials in absentia.

"In the current week, we have completed our investigation of about 15 individuals who were among those criminals," IRIB, Iran's State Television, quoted Mortazavi as saying.

"Based on our investigation and according to article 2 of the Interpol charter, we asked Interpol to arrest these suspects."

Mortazavi said the charges included war crimes, invasion, occupation, genocide and crimes against humanity.

The Iranian prosecutor was referring to Israeli strikes that started on December 27 on the densely populated Palestinian coastal territory and did not end until it had claimed the lives of more than 1,330 Gazans, mostly civilians.

Many international NGOs and human rights organizations, Palestinians wounded in the Gaza onslaught, more than 5,700 Iranian lawyers and attorneys in the Iranian Bar Association along with a large number of medics were also among those who filed complaints against Tel Aviv, Mortazavi added.

The list of Israeli war criminals includes:

1 Outgoing Prime Minister Ehud Olmert
2 Defense Minister Ehud Barak
3 Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni
4 Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi
5 Commander in Chief of the Israeli Air Force Ido Nehoshtan
6 Commander of the Gaza war -- Operation Cast Lead -- Maj. Gen. Yoav Galant
7 Head of Military Intelligence Directorate Maj. Gen. Amos Yadlin
8 Commander of Battalion 13 in the Golani Brigade Lt. Col. Oren Cohen
9 Deputy to the Givati Brigade Col. Ron Ashrov
10 Commander of the Israel Paratroopers' Brigade in Gaza Col. Hertzi Halevy
11 Commander of 401st Armored Corps Brigade convoy Col. Yigal Slovik
12 Commander of the 101st Battalion in the Paratrooper Brigade Lt. Col. Avi Blot
13 Lt. Col. Yoav Mordechai, who served as a commander of the Golani infantry brigade's 13th Battalion in Gaza
14 Givati squad commander Col. Tomer Tsiter
15 Brigade commander in Battalion 51 Col. Avi Peled

ehud olmert is the same guy that ordered president bush to tell condoleeza rice to stop the vote against israel's bombing of the gaza strip.

we need more positivity in these posts. i want to start by saying thank you to all of you for your opinions on all of these topics.

Didn't I just answer that, ummm twice now. Well three times counting this one. I thought I was going crazy, but you posted it in three places. Ack, quit now, I need some sleep.. grin

well, one can never be thanked enough!!! lol

bumping this up because it has to do with the gaza situation. like to hear some opinions about it.

It sure does seem like there is some genocide going on there.

yeah, and isn't it funny that all of a sudden you read in the newspaper that israel is really trying to push the "iran has nuclear weapons" story. they don't want to be tried for war crimes so they are attacking as hard as they can.

SO the Hamas and the palestines you believe they have handles this situation correctly?

they are innocents??

the hammas were actually created by the israelis, but it backfired on them. basically, the hammas are the people's army there, they are against the israelis stealing their homes.

yes but didnt Israel build up the Gaza area with school snad clinics?

if the Hamas were a group with initally had support of israel (to do its dirty deeds) what made Israel turn against these groups??

who fuds hte hamas?? and what is this group doing with itself now??

i don't know but i find it hard to believe that israel would do that. basically, the gaza strip is full of people that were dislocated from the palestinian region now known as israel. the palestinians want the land back and israel won't budge. the hamas was developed by israel to overthrow the government in the gaza strip so they could have more control over gaza. it backfired on them when the hamas started turning it around on the israelis. they are trying to fight the israelis for their land back

okay i understand that. its all about the land. period.

and neither groups wants to budge an inch.

so thereforre they make their war...
and the stronger country wins.

Iran has been working on a nuclear weapons program for a while havent they? Israel feels threatened. well I dont blame them.

convict the war criminals?? well a case can be made for many war criminals it seems.

what is Obamas stance?? he supports israel...correct??

yep, he's from the zionist movement of israel. actually, iran says that the uranium they have is not weapons grade uranium. there have been UN inspectors who have verified it but israel is trying to get rid of iran because iran is helping the gazans.

Israel has nucs. I dont think they are scared of using them either.

but they dont want to have to use it on the gazan strip.

so hence the desire for Israel's enemies to have some control over the gazan terriitory.

has the US offered its support to help rebuild Gaza?? has anyone??

Hamas is an Islamic militant fundamentalist movement like Al-Qaida funded and supported by Iran, Hezbollah and Syria. They came to power in a violent overthrow of Fatah in Gaza using arms brought in after the Israelis ceded control of the Egyptian-Gaza border and pulled completely out of Gaza. Although Hamas has also won elections in Gaza and the West Bank, their violent coercion casts doubt on the validity of the election results. Many may feel compelled to vote for Hamas since known political opponents are sometimes physically attacked. Hamas is recognized as a terrorist organization and is shunned by most of the civilized world. Their tactics include deliberate bombing of civilian targets, torture of Gazans suspected of collaboration with Fatah, execution without trial of opponents, and taking hostages.

The Israelis have routinely permitted humanitarian aid to Gaza and the West Bank but avoid supporting Hamas.

yeah right, that's why the israelis are getting sued right now by the red cross and many other organizations because they wouldn't let them in with food and supplies. yay israel!!! such a great bunch of humanitarians. NOT!!!!! POWER TO THE PEOPLE OF GAZA!!!!! screw israel...