Shell fire kills two relief workers in Lebanon camp

Nahr Al Bared: Two relief workers and a Leb-anese soldier were killed in fierce fighting yesterday between the Lebanese army and Al Qaida-inspired militants at a Palestinian refugee camp.

A Palestinian cleric trying to mediate an end to the fighting between the army and the Fatah Al Islam group was also wounded at Nahr Al Bared camp in northern Lebanon.

Security sources said two members of the Lebanese Red Cross were killed and a third was wounded when they were hit by a shell. A military source said that one soldier was also killed in the fighting.

Red Cross workers, along with other local and international aid agencies, almost every day try to take in medical and food supplies to the camp and help civilians leave. The two slain workers had been at the northern entrance of the camp when they were killed, the sources said.

UN extends Brammertz's term to December 31

The United Nations announced yesterday the extension until the end of the year of Belgian Serge Brammertz's term as its chief investigator into the killing of former Lebanese prime minister Rafik Al Hariri.

The announcement came the day after the UN Security Council's establishment of a special court to try the case.

A UN statement said Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had informed the council that he would extend until December 31 Brammertz's term as commissioner of the UN International Independent Investigation Commission into the killing.