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UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed a Bangladeshi army officer, Brig-Gen Abdul Hafiz, to head the initial 26-strong United Nations military observer contingent in the new UN Mission in Cote d'Ivoire (MINUCI).
In a letter to the Council president released at UN headquarters in New York, Annan said that Abdul had been appointed as the Chief Military Liaison Officer of MINUCI, effective June 4.
The mission will include a military component to complement the operations of the French and the forces of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) who have been monitoring a ceasefire between rebels and Ivorian government forces. This was established following the negotiation of a peace agreement in January which led to the formation of a government of national reconciliation in April.
The group has been charged with advising the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Albert Tevoedjre, on military matters; monitoring the military situation, including the security of Liberian refugees; and establishing links with the French and ECOWAS forces, as well as with the Forces armees nationales de Cote d'Ivoire (FANCI) and rebel forces in order to build confidence and trust between them.
Several countries, including Bangladesh, Benin, Ghana, India, Ireland, Jordan, Kenya, Nepal, Niger, Nigeria, Pakistan, Paraguay, Poland, the Republic of Moldova, Senegal, Tunisia and Uruguay have agreed to provide military liaison officers.
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