Deputy prosecutor quits global criminal court

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Belgian Serge Brammertz, who is leading U.N. investigations into political murders in Lebanon, has resigned from his separate post as deputy prosecutor of the new International Criminal Court.

Brammertz, who has been on a leave of absence from the court since he assumed the U.N. post in January 2006, submitted his resignation to the ICC, the world's first permanent criminal tribunal, on June 14, U.N. spokeswoman Michele Montas said on Tuesday.

He did not give a reason for his resignation.

But she said he would continue to serve as the lead investigator for the U.N. International Independent Investigation Commission in Lebanon, formed to probe the February 2005 murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, one of a series of anti-Syrian figures killed since October 2004.

Brammertz had been mentioned as a successor to Carla del Ponte, the chief prosecutor of the U.N. war crimes tribunal for the Balkans. She leaves her post on September 15 but his continued obligations in Lebanon probably exclude that job, according to legal sources.

Brammertz had been on a leave of absence from the International Criminal Court, which was set up to prosecute individuals suspected of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide. He was appointed to his ICC position in November 2003 for a six-year term after years of experience in chasing down terrorists in Belgium.