BEIRUT, Lebanon - Serge Brammertz, the new chief of the UN probe into the assassination of Lebanon's former premier Rafiq Hariri, officially took up his duties on Monday in Beirut, a judicial source said.

Brammertz, who is to continue a UN-mandated investigation into Hariri's killing, was accompanied by his predecessor, German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis, as he met with Justice Minister Charles Rizk before holding talks with other judicial officials.

Brammertz pledged to continue the inquiry with "complete independence and impartiality, in accordance with Security Council resolutions."

Rizk praised the "pursuit of full cooperation" between the Lebanese judicial system and the UN inquiry into the February 14, 2005 assassination of Hariri, who was killed along with 20 other people in a massive bomb blast on the Beirut seafront.

Mehlis, whose mandate expired at the end of last year, stressed the importance of "mutual trust" between the UN commission and the Lebanese judiciary.

Under Mehlis's leadership, the probe found "converging evidence" of Syrian and Lebanese intelligence officers' involvement in Hariri's killing and cast doubt on Syria's cooperation with investigators.

However, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan said last week that Syrian Foreign Minister Faruq Shara "assure(d) me that his government is going to cooperate and cooperate fully with the new prosecutor and they look forward to meeting with him as soon as practicable."

Asked whether Brammertz may question Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, as Mehlis wanted, Annan simply responded: "I would want to leave him (Brammertz) to do his work."

Twelve people have been detained in connection with Hariri's assassination.

Annan named Brammertz, 43, to head the probe on January 11, which is currently scheduled to end in mid-July.

Brammertz was a deputy prosecutor of the International Criminal Court in charge of the investigations division. Previously serving as Belgium's federal prosecutor, he has written extensively on global terrorism, organized crime and corruption.

Since arriving in Beirut on Thursday, Brammertz has met with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, who was questioned by UN investigators and was not considered a suspect, though four close aides were detained in connection with the killing last year.

Brammertz has also met Prime Minister Fuad Siniora and parliament speaker Nabih Berri.

Meanwhile, around 2,000 demonstrators gathered in the capital's Martyr's Square to mark the 40th day since prominent anti-Syrian journalist and MP Gibran Tueni was killed by a car bombing in a Beirut suburb.

Waving Lebanese flags, the demonstrators chanted "Syrian assassins," and "We won't forget you Gibran."

Tueni's killing on December 12 marked the 13th in a string of attacks aimed at anti-Syrian figures in Lebanon since Hariri's death last year. Syria has denied any involvement.

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