A British lawyer was elected as the new chief prosecutor for the International Criminal Court in the Hague on Friday, in an election by the court's 131 member states at the United Nations in New York.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
Karim Khan, 50, will replace Fatou Bensouda from the Gambia and is expected to serve the full nine-year term in the position.
According to The Guardian, the secret ballot for the post was the first in the court's history and took place amid some controversy between member states.
Khan, who led a UN probe into atrocities committed by the Islamic State terrorist group, beat candidates from Ireland, Spain and Italy to win on a second round of voting with support from 72 nations – 10 more than the 62 needed.
AFP noted that Khan will be only the third prosecutor of the ICC.
ICC members had failed to reach a consensus choice, triggering a vote in New York among four candidates in which Khan won on the second ballot with 72 votes.
In the first round, he did not win a majority but narrowly edged out Ireland's Fergal Gaynor, who has represented victims before the ICC in the Afghan war investigation and in a case against Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta.
The United Nations has 193 member states but only 123 are in the ICC, with the United States, Israel, China and Russia notably absent.
Khan will take on a bulging file of difficult cases at a tribunal whose legitimacy is subject to constant questioning.
The new prosecutor's first tasks will include deciding the next steps on the probe into war crimes in Afghanistan and the hugely contentious investigation into the 2014 Israel-Palestinian conflict in Gaza.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
