Brammertz Replaced

Nahrnet - Brammertz Replaced, november 15, 2007.

U.N. Chief Ban ki-moon has picked a Canadian, Daniel Bellemare, to replace Belgian prosecutor Serge Brammertz as head of the U.N. probe into the 2005 murder of Lebanese ex-premier Rafik Hariri, according to a letter seen here Tuesday. In a letter sent to the U.N. Security Council, the secretary general, said Bellemare, until recently Canada's deputy Attorney General, would take over from Brammertz, who has just been to nominated to be the new chief prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for former Yugoslavia (ICTY). Ban thanked Brammertz, whose mandate expires on December 31, "for his leadership in advancing the investigation and for his commitment to assisting the Lebanese government and people in bringing and to impunity in their country." He said the 55-year-old Bellemare, who retired from Canada's department of justice and public service last September 29, would begin his official duties as chief investigator in the Hariri probe "at a later date." Bellemare's appointment is expected to be endorsed by the 15-member Security Council. Brammertz, a former deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court, has been in charge of the Hariri probe since January 2006, when he succeeded German magistrate Detlev Mehlis. Mehlis had implicated in the Hariri slaying senior officials from Syria, which for three decades was the power broker in its smaller neighbor. Damascus has strongly denies any connection with that murder as well as with the string of assassinations of other anti-Syrian Lebanese figures. Last July, Brammertz released an interim report indicating that investigators had identified several people who may have been involved in Hariri's assassination. Hariri, who was a leading opponent of Syrian domination of Lebanon, and 22 other people were killed in a massive truck bombing in downtown Beirut on February 14, 2005.