Annan appoints Brazilian general as Force Commander for UN peacekeeping mission in Haiti

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has informed the Security Council of his intention to appoint Lt. Gen. José Elito Carvalho Siqueira of Brazil the new Force Commander of the peacekeeping UN Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH).

The general, 59, has served as Commander of the 6th Military Region in Brazil, comprising Bahia and Sergipe, since 2004. He also served as the Brazilian Army's Director of Human Resources from 2002 to 2004.

He joined the Brazilian Army in 1966 and holds a doctorate in Military Sciences.

In Haiti, he will succeed Lt. Gen. Urano Teixeira Da Matta Bacellar, whose death in his Haitian hotel earlier this month was ruled a suicide.