UK Grants Diplomatic Immunity to Wanted ’Israeli’ Livni
Local Editor
The British government granted diplomatic immunity to the so-called "Israeli" "Justice" Minister Tzipi Livni to protect her against arrest and potential prosecution for breaches of international law including war crimes, ahead of a visit to the UK this week, according to The Guardian daily on Tuesday.
Britain's Foreign & Commonwealth Office [FCO] said in a statement that it has given "special mission" status to Livni, who will travel to London later this week, The Guardian reported."Since the visit meets all the essential elements for a special mission, and for avoidance of any doubt on the matter, the FCO has confirmed consent to the visit as a special mission," the statement read.
In 2009, a British court issued an arrest warrant for Livni on the grounds that she had been a member of the "Israeli" cabinet that organized the slaughter of more than 1,400 Palestinians in the seized Gaza Strip between December 2008 and January 2009. The "Israeli" official was forced to cancel a visit to the UK that year.
The director of the Gaza-based Palestinian Centre for Human Rights [PCHR], Raji Sourani, criticized the British government's move as a political act that endorses "the ‘rule of the jungle' rather than the ‘rule of law.'"
Livni is set to have a public speech at a meeting of the UK "Israeli" National Fund, which will be held at a secret central London venue on May 15.
The "Israeli" official had been given a rare diplomatic passport by the UK government for another visit in 2011, to protect her from a risk of arrest and prosecution.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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