UN extends term of Hariri killing investigator

UNITED NATIONS, June 11 (Reuters) The United Nations announced today 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 move at the heart of a political crisis in Lebanon and seen as a challenge to neighboring Syria, went into effect.

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.

Hariri and 22 others died in a Beirut car bomb blast in February 2005. Brammertz took over the UN investigation from German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis in January 2006.

Interim UN reports have implicated Syrian and Lebanese security officials in the killing, but Syria has denied involvement. In March, the Security Council extended the investigation until June 2008.

At the request of the Lebanese government, the council voted on May 30 to set up the special tribunal, even though the Lebanese parliament had not endorsed the move. The parliament speaker, a pro-Syrian opposition politician, had refused to convene the assembly to do so.

Five of the 15 council members abstained in the UN vote, arguing that the body should not usurp the parliament's role.

The council said its decision would not come into force until June 10, to give Lebanese politicians a last chance to agree on it.

As expected, there has been no such agreement amid fierce clashes in the north of the country between the Lebanese army and al Qaeda-inspired militants.

UN diplomats expect it to take up to a year to get the court functioning. No venue has yet been decided.

REUTERS DS RAI2323