UNITED NATIONS: United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Maj Gen Ziaur Rehman of the Pakistan Army as Force Commander of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), said a press release issued on Thursday.
According to a press release by the UN, Maj Gen Rehman succeeds Maj Gen Xiaojun Wang of China, whose tour of duty ended on Feb 17. “The secretary-general is grateful to Major General Wang for his exemplary service and contribution to the work of MINURSO,” read the release.
Maj Gen Rehman has 30 years of national and international military leadership experience, including as commander of military formations on operations and directing staff appointments at command, staff, and war college levels.
He is experienced in other leadership roles, including as a military observer in the then United Nations Organization Mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (MONUC).
From 2015 to 2016, he served as senior national representative in the United States Central Command Headquarters (CENTCOM) in Florida. Most recently, Maj Gen Rehman served as the commander of an infantry brigade from 2016 to 2017 and of an infantry division from 2017.
He holds a Bachelor of Science degree from the Pakistan Military Academy in Kakul, a Master of Business Administration degree from the Canadian School of Management Institute of Graduate Studies in Lahore, a Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree from the University of Balochistan in Quetta, a Master of Science degree from the Command and Staff College in Quetta, a Master of Science (Hons) and a Master of Philosophy degree from the National Defence University, Islamabad.