Beirut/Damascus – The Palestinian gunman who shot and wounded two Lebanese policemen Monday south of Beirut, has been handed over to Lebanese authorities, a spokesman for the militant Palestinian organization of which he is a member told Deutsche Presse Agentur dpa. The policemen, who were on patrol in the area of Naameh, were taken to hospital after being hit by gunfire from the nearby base manned by the pro-Syrian Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command (PFLP-GC).

One of the policemen was wounded in the foot while the other was more seriously wounded, hospital sources said. Anwar Raja, a spokesman for the PFLP-GC in Lebanon told dpa the group had handed over the attacker, but suggested the incident had been ‘planned’ and called on Lebanon to investigate the two policemen for possible political connections.

By Evelyn Leopold, UNITED NATIONS, Jan 11 (Reuters) – A Belgian prosecutor with the International Criminal Court is expected to be named on Wednesday as head of the U.N. investigation into the death of a former Lebanese prime minister, U.N. officials said. Serge Brammertz, now the deputy prosecutor of the Hague-based court, would replace German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, who intends to leave the inquiry into the assassination of Rafik Hariri shortly after a replacement is chosen.

The appointment of Brammertz, a former federal prosecutor of Belgium, was to have been announced a month ago. But U.N. officials said Secretary-General Kofi Annan delayed the appointment because the Brammertz first needed to assure governments who support the International Criminal Court (ICC) that his departure would not delay investigations in Sudan, Uganda and the Democratic Republic of the Congo. Brammertz would take a leave of absence from the ICC, which was set up more than two years ago to prosecute individuals suspected of war crimes, crimes against humanity and genocide.

BEIRUT, 9 January (IRIN) – Alleged irregularities in a hospital survey last week have left the health sector in turmoil, say health workers. The survey report, conducted by a committee of Lebanese and Australian health professionals under contract with the health ministry, revealed that only 86 out of 160 of the country’s hospitals had received accreditation.

Survey results, however, were marred by allegations concerning a lack of transparency and unfair procedures. "In my area [of North Lebanon], some non-accredited hospitals are much better than others that deserve to be closed, and which passed the accreditation exam," said local resident Mayssa Romanos. According to a public official who requested anonymity, "many factors