Belgian lawyer takes over inquiry

United Nations: A Belgian prosecutor with the International Criminal Court was named yesterday as head of the UN investigation into the death of former Lebanese premier Rafik Hariri, officials said.

Serge Brammertz, the deputy prosecutor of the court, replaced German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who intends to leave the inquiry shortly. Following his appointment, Brammertz, a former federal prosecutor of Belgium, will take a leave of absence from the ICC, which was set up to prosecute those suspected of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide