Chief UN investigator will leave Hariri probe after Dec. 15 report News
Chief UN investigator will leave Hariri probe after Dec. 15 report

[JURIST] The chief United Nations investigator leading the probe into the murder of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri [UN materials; JURIST news archive] will leave his post on December 15 after submitting his final report to the UN, a spokesman said Tuesday. The spokesman said that German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis indicated he would conduct the investigation for only six to seven months when he joined the UN team, but that he will be available if needed past the mid-December date. Last week, both Syria and Lebanon announced that they want the UN Security Council [official website] to extend the probe [JURIST report] into Hariri's death, but Mehlis said his personal mandate will end [NYT report] after he delivers the report, adding that "I have to go back and I will go back to my job that I like. I never asked for this assignment. I agreed to be available up to seven months." AP has more.

THIS DAY @ LAW

UN General Assembly approves Palestine partition plan

The UN General Assembly approved UN Resolution Resolution 181 (II) on November 29, 1947, recommending that the British Mandate for Palestine be split into a Jewish state, an Arab state, and an international zone for Jerusalem. The vote in the assembly was 33 for to 13 against, with 10 abstentions. The resolution sparked a war between Palestinian Arabs and Jews in 1947 and a wider war after Egypt, Syria, Jordan, Iraq, and Lebanon invaded the new State of Israel in 1948. Read Resolution 181 (II).

UN divided Palestine between Arabs and Jews

On November 29, 1947, the UN General Assembly voted to partition Palestine into Jewish and Arab territories, leading to the establishment of a Jewish state the following year. Read UN General Assembly Resolution 181.

Defense Secretary Robert McNamara resigns during Vietnam Conflict

On November 29, 1967, Secretary of Defense Robert S. McNamara announced that he was resigning from his office to accept an appointment as head of the World Bank. The announcement came as the Vietnam Conflict was becoming increasingly unpopular in the United States and abroad.