U.N. Counter-Terrorism Expert to Investigate U.S. Drone Strikes

Says the attacks could be war crimes

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., Oct. 26 (UPI) -- An independent U.N. counter-terrorism expert says he will probe U.S. drone attacks and other targeted assassinations that result in civilian deaths or injuries.

Ben Emmerson, the U.N. special rapporteur on counter-terrorism and human rights, told a Harvard Law School audience he would create a special investigative unit in Geneva early next year to examine U.S. drone attacks' legality.

He said this summer some drone strikes in Pakistan might amount to war crimes.