Major Event

Chinese general to lead UN Mission in Sahara
8/28/2007

The United Nations Secretary General has appointed Major General Zhao Jingmin commander of the UN Mission in the Sahara, known as the MINURSO, to succeed Danish general Kurt Mosgaard, UN chief spokeswoman announced.
"The Secretary General has informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Maj. Gen. Zhao Jingmin of China in the position of commander of the MINURSO," Ms. Michele Montas told the press.

The MINURSO was set up in 1991 to monitor a UN-brokered ceasefire between Morocco and the Algeria-backed Polisario separatists after over ten years of fighting. The two parties dispute the control of The Sahara, a former Spanish colony that was ceded to Morocco under the Madrid Accord signed in 1975.

"This will be the first time the UN has had a Chinese force commander heading one of its missions," Ms. Montas said. The appointment is subject to the approval of the UN Security Council.

Since October 2003, Gen. Jingmin was a senior official in the Chinese Defense Ministry. He was also China’s military attaché in Tunisia.

Gen. Jingmin had also served in the UN Iraq-Kuwait observer mission in 1996-97 and in the UN mission in the Sahara as a military observer from September 1991 until June 1992.

Born in Shanxi, China in 1954, Zhao Jingmin holds a degree from the Institute of Foreign Languages in Beijing and from the Dakar University. He speaks fluent English and French.

Source : MAP
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