Pakistani brigadier assumes acting command of UN force in disputed African region of Abyei
Pakistan
Brigadier General Ameer Muhammad Umran of Pakistan, will assume the role of Acting Head of Mission.
UNITED NATIONS (Web Desk) - A senior Pakistan Army officer has temporarily taken over the command of the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei, an area disputed by South Sudan and the Sudan, after its acting head – a general from Nigeria – was sent on “administrative leave” pending a probe concerning him, a UN spokesperson said Friday.
“The (UN) Secretary-General has placed the Acting Head of Mission and Force Commander of the UN Interim Security Force in Abyei -UNISFA -, Major General Benjamin Olufemi Sawyerr, on administrative leave with full pay, pending an investigation involving him,” Spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said in a statement read out at the regular noon briefing at U.N. Headquarters in New York.
“The Deputy Force Commander, Brigadier General Ameer Muhammad Umran of Pakistan, will assume the role of Acting Head of Mission and Force Commander until further notice,” the statement added.
Dujarric declined to give any details about the probe implicating the Nigerian general.
“I don’t have any more information to share with you at this point, given the confidentiality of such investigations,” he told reporters.
“However, just to note that administrative leave with full pay is not a disciplinary measure and is without prejudice to the Major General’s rights,” Dujarric said.
Pakistan is the 5th largest contributor of military and police personnel to the UN peace operations with more than 3,800 now serving in Abyei, the Central African Republic, Cyprus, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Somalia, South Sudan and Western Sahara.
