Global perspective Human stories

Beninese major general appointed by Annan to lead UN mission in Côte d’Ivoire

Beninese major general appointed by Annan to lead UN mission in Côte d’Ivoire

media:entermedia_image:8cbd2003-ab0d-46dc-8ed9-5efc99937f9c
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed a Beninese major general as the new Force Commander of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Côte d’Ivoire.

In an exchange of letters over the past week, the Security Council and Mr. Annan agreed on the appointment of Maj. Gen. Fernand Marcel Amoussou to the post of Force Commander of the mission, known by the acronym UNOCI.

Major General Amoussou will replace Maj. Gen. Abdoulaye Fall of Senegal, who left UNOCI in April after serving as Force Commander since the mission’s inception in early 2004.

According to figures at the end of July, UNOCI has almost 8,000 uniformed personnel, comprised of 6,894 troops, 184 military observers and 728 police officers. They are trying to stabilize a country that has been divided between the Government-controlled south and the rebel-held north since an aborted coup in 2002.