Chinese general appointed force commander of UN mission in Western Sahara

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UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Thursday appointed Major General Wang Xiaojun of China as the Force Commander of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO).

"Major General Wang will succeed Major General Muhammad Tayyab Azam of Pakistan, whose tour of duty ended on November 7, 2016," UN Deputy Spokesperson Farhan Haq told a daily briefing in New York.

MINURSO was established by the UN Security Council on April 29, 1991 in accordance with settlement proposals accepted on 30 August, 1988 by Morocco and the Frente Popular para la Liberación de Saguia el-Hamra y de Río de Oro, a movement which aims to end Moroccan presence in the Western Sahara.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon delivers remarks during a discussion on "Forced Displacement: A Global Development Challenge" at the IMF and World Bank Group 2016 Spring Meetings in Washington, D.C. /CFP Photo

The settlement plan, as approved by the UN Security Council, provided for a transitional period for the preparation of a referendum in which the people of Western Sahara would choose between independence and integration with Morocco.

The Special Representative of the Secretary-General was to have sole and exclusive responsibility over matters relating to the referendum and was to be assisted in his tasks by an integrated group of civilian, military and civilian police personnel, to be known as MINURSO.

Haq said Wang "brings to this position 40 years of national and international military experience, having served as Defense Attache at the embassies of the People's Republic of China to Brazil, India, Sweden, and the United States of America from 2006 until 2016."

The headquarters of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) in Laayoune, the main city in the disputed territory, on May 13, 2013. /CFP Photo

"He also has served as a United Nations Sector Commander in MINURSO from 2003 to 2004, and was a United Nations Military Observer in Kuwait from 1992 to 1993," Haq added.

Wang has a Master's degree in Military Administration from the Military Science Institution of the People's Liberation Army, and a Bachelor's degree in Signals Technology and Command from the Nanjing Army Command College, China.

(Story from Xinhua)

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