A FRENCH judge will lead investigations into war crimes in Syria, the United Nations said on Monday night.

Secretary-general Antonio Guterres has appointed Catherine Marchi-Uhel to head the new “International, Impartial and Independent Mechanism” for Syria, said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.

The UN general assembly voted last December — over the objections of Syria’s government and its ally Russia — to establish the body “to closely co-ordinate” with the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on Syria.