UN taps top German prosecutor to lead Hariri probe

UNITED NATIONS - A veteran German prosecutor has been chosen to lead an international investigation into the assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri, the United Nations said on Friday.

Detlev Mehlis, the chief prosecutor in the office of the attorney general in Berlin, was picked by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan due to his experience in probing terrorist and complex transnational crimes including the 1986 bombing of a Berlin discotheque frequented by US soldiers, UN diplomats said.

"Mr Mehlis will travel to Beirut as soon as possible to begin the commission investigation," UN spokeswoman Marie Okabe said.

The UN Security Council ordered an outside inquiry into Hariri's murder in April after a UN fact-finding mission, led by Irish Deputy Police Commissioner Peter Fitzgerald, concluded that Lebanon's own inquiry into the killing had "serious flaws" and could not reach a credible conclusion.

Some 50 people, including administrative and security staff, are expected to participate in the investigation. Hariri was killed by a car bomb in broad daylight on February 14 in Beirut.

Mehlis has 25 years of experience as a prosecutor, including stints as the individual responsible for terrorism and organized crime cases, and has led numerous investigations into "serious, complex transnational crimes," Okabe said.

In the discotheque case, a Berlin court ruled in 2001 that the Libyan secret service was behind the bombing at the West Berlin "La Belle" nightclub, in which a Turkish woman and two US soldiers were killed and more than 200 people injured.

The attack on Hariri took place after he accused Syria of meddling in Lebanon's internal politics. Mass street demonstrations followed and Lebanese opposition politicians blamed Damascus for his death.

Syria, which dominated Lebanon for three decades, denied any involvement in the killing but agreed to withdraw its troops from Lebanon under international pressure.

A UN team sent to the region to verify the Syrian withdrawal was headed back to New York and would report its findings to Annan early next week, Annan said on Friday.

- REUTERS