BEIRUT, Lebanon - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan will try to convince the head of a probe into the murder of ex-Lebanese premier Rafiq Hariri to stay on after his mandate expires next month, Lebanon's prime minister said Saturday.

"During a phone call between (Prime Minister Fuad) Siniora and Annan, (Annan) told the prime minister he would use every means possible to convince the magistrate to stay in his post," a statement from Siniora's office said.

German prosecutor Detlev Mehlis heads the UN investigation into the February assassination of Hariri but has signaled he will step down when his mandate runs out on January 1.

"My employer is my country, Germany. I have other tasks that are waiting for me," Mehlis said earlier this week.

His team issued an explosive preliminary report in October that cited converging evidence of top level Syrian and Lebanese involvement in the February 14 bomb blast that killed Hariri and 20 others on the Beirut seafront.

Mehlis took the chief role of the inquiry in mid-June, and has said he would not quit or step down prematurely.

The UN investigation's mandate is set to expire December 15, and the Lebanese government said Thursday it would ask the United Nations for a six-month extension.

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