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President Charles Taylor has announced new appointments in the leadership of the country’s military, Milton Teahjay, deputy information minister told IRIN on Friday.
Brigadier General Kpenkpah Kona has been nominated as the new Armed Forces Chief of Staff. He succeeds Prince C. Johnson who died in October following a car accident.
The new army chief is Colonel John Tarnue who was formerly the training commander of the Special Security Unit. It has not yet been decided who his replacement will be, Teahjay said. A commander of a former rebel faction, Brigadier General Samuel Varney, has been appointed Deputy Chief of Staff. All the appointments are subject to approval by the Senate.
Meanwhile, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday that soldiers had recently been found loitering at business centres and courthouses without permission from their superiors and, according to AFP, Defence Minister Daniel Chea threatened violators with detentions and dishonourable discharges. The army and presidential security guard are routinely accused of harassing civilians and violating human rights, AFP added.
This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions