British Defense Secretary Geoff Hoon said the so-called universal competence law was a matter of "great concern," backing up critical comments on the controversial law by his US counterpart Donald Rumsfeld.

"It's a matter of great concern and I well understand why he (Rumsfeld) raised it and raised it in such a vigourous way," Hoon told reporters as he arrived for a NATO defense ministers meeting in Brussels.

On Thursday Rumsfeld referred to the universal competence law as "absurd," warning Belgium could face consequences if it refused to change the law, which recently saw a case against US General Tommy Franks over the Iraq war.

"For our part, we will have to seriously consider whether we can allow our civilian and military officials to come to Belgium," he said.

He also said Washington would oppose any further financial contributions towards a planned new NATO headquarters on the outskirts of Brussels.

Hoon, asked whether Britain supported the US position, said: "I think that's something we (have) got to look at but certainly it is a serious legal issue that has to be addressed."

The 1993 law allows courts in Belgium to judge suspects accused of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide, regardless of where the alleged acts were committed, the nationality of the accused or that of the victims.

A number of lawsuits have been filed in Belgium under the law, including action against former US president George Bush, the US commander in the recent Iraq war General Tommy Franks, and an Israeli general.

But a recent modification of the law limits its powers, notably allowing for cases to be sent to the defendants' country of origin -- which Belgium did in the cases against General Franks in May.

Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel has rejected Rumsfeld's criticisms, telling the Belga news agency the government had already amended the law to take into consideration US and Israeli positions.

NATO chief George Robertson meanwhile expressed confidence that an agreement can be reached satisfactory to all sides.

"I'm sure a mutually convenient solution can be found," he said, stressing that the Belgian law was of concern to all NATO members, not only the United States.

"This is not about a bilateral argument between the Americans and the Belgians...the issue here is a bigger one than just one country and the Alliance."

NATO has been based in Brussels since 1967, when it moved from Paris after France pulled out of the Alliance's integrated military command structure.

NATO earlier this year launched plans for a new headquarters near to its current ageing compound on the outskirts of the Belgian capital. The cost of the project is estimated at more than 300 million euros.

"The Americans have made it clear they will not allow any expenditure during the next six months and we'll obviously want to see what implications that would have for the project as a whole," said Robertson.

"But we're not at the building stage yet so it may not have a huge impact," he added.

But he said: "The alliance, the EU and other international organisations in Brussels need to know that people can come and go to meetings."

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