NEW HAGUE CHIEF PROSECUTOR APPOINTED

Source:Tanjug

NEW YORK -- Ban Ki-moon has appointed Serge Brammertz of Belgium to replace Carla Del Ponte as chief prosecutor at the Hague Tribunal.

Brammertz will assume the post on January 1, 2008, it was announced at UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday.

In his letter to the UN Security Council released yesterday, the UN secretary-general said he was appointing Brammertz, 45, who is the current head of the UN International Independent Investigation Commission into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri.

The UN secretary-general's decision had been expected, since Brammertz had already been mentioned as the main candidate to succeed Del Ponte, whose mandate is due to expire in December.