What War Criminals Deserve

Prime Minister John Howard could face criminal prosecution overseas for Australia's role in the Iraq war, an international lawyer says. Philippe Sands, QC, director of the Centre for International Courts and Tribunals at University College London, says Mr Howard along with British Prime Minister Tony Blair could face charges amid claims the Iraq war was illegal. United States President George W Bush and US Secretary of Defence Donald Rumsfeld could also find themselves in similar predicaments, Professor Sands says. "Under international law an illegal war amounts to the crime of aggression and in some countries around the world a crime of aggression is one in which they exercise jurisdiction," Prof Sands told ABC TV. "So the possibility really can't be excluded that if messrs Blair and Howard at some point in the future travel after they've left office to a country which, for example, has an extradition agreement with another country where you have an independent prosecutor. "A request for extradition or for investigation or questioning ... could happen. There's precedent for it."

PM could face Iraq prosecution
The Australian