Guterres appoints new commander for Abyei force

[Elisabeth Janaina]

Guterres appoints new commander for Abyei force

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António Guterres (UN Photo)
February 23, 2017 (KHARTOUM) - United Nations Secretary-General
António Guterres Thursday appointed an Ethiopian general as Force
Commander for the United Nations Interim Security Force for Abyei
(UNISFA).

The new UNISFA Major General Tesfay Gidey Hailemichael succeeds Major
General Hassen Ebrahim Mussa, who completed his assignment on 17
January 2017.

He has had a long and distinguished career with the Ethiopian Armed
Forces spanning over thirty-three years. He graduated from the
Ethiopian Defence Command and Staff College (1995) and is currently
the Head of the Defence Logistics Department in the Ethiopian Army
since April 2014.

Sudan and South Sudan have failed to run a referendum on the fate of
the contested Abyei area which lies on the border between the two
countries.

Initially, UNISFA was composed of 4,000 Ethiopian troops, established
following the seizure of the disputed oil-rich region by the Sudanese
army in May 2011 after clashes with South Sudan army (SPLA) troops.

In accordance with the resolution 1990 (2011) UNISFA’s main mandate is
to ensure the redeployment of Sudanese and South Sudanese troops out
of the contested area of Abyei and to facilitate the delivery of
humanitarian aid to civilians.

On 29 May 2013, the Security Council increased UNISFA military
strength to 5,326 troops and tasked it with the support for the
operational activities of the Joint Border Verification and Monitoring
Mechanism, established by the Sudan-South Sudan Cooperation Agreement
of 27 September 2012.

(ST)