U.N. names Balkans War tribunal prosecutor

UNITED NATIONS, Nov. 29 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council approved the appointment of Serge Brammertz as the prosecutor of the U.N.'s tribunal for the Balkan War crimes.

Brammertz, currently heads the independent probe of the 2005 killing of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and other killings in the country, replaces Carla Del Ponte on the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the United Nations said in a news release.

In its resolution unanimously adopted Wednesday, Security Council members said the tribunal strategy calls for the court, based in The Hague, to do its best to complete trials by the end of next year and all other work, including appeals, by 2010.