BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Belgium's Prime Minister Guy Verhofstadt said on Saturday he would send a war crimes lawsuit filed in Belgium against the commander of U.S.-led forces in Iraq to the United States next week. The lawsuit was filed earlier this week by 19 Iraqis against U.S. General Tommy Franks and a U.S. Marine colonel over the use of cluster bombs and alleged U.S. attacks on ambulances and civilians during the war in Iraq.

Speaking a day before the country's federal election, Verhofstadt called the lawsuit an abuse of a controversial law that allows Belgian courts to try foreigners for war crimes and other human rights violations.

"The law leaves open the possibility of sending back the complaint to the United States and that is what I...aim to do," he said in an interview with local VTM television. "Next week, I will call for a cabinet meeting and...undo this abuse."[...]