Maj Gen Zia Ur Rehman appointed force commander of UN mission in Western Sahara

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres has appointed Major General Zia Ur Rehman of Pakistan as Force Commander of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO), said a press release issued on Thursday.

According to the UN press release, Major General Rehman succeeds Major General Xiaojun Wang of China, whose tour of duty ended on February 17, 2019.

Major General 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, said the release.

He possesses a range of experiences in other leadership, staff, liaison and operational tasks, including as a Military Observer in the then United Nations Organisation 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, Major General Rehman served as the Commander of an Infantry Brigade from 2016 to 2017 and of an Infantry Division from 2017.

Major General Rehman 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.

“The secretary-general is grateful to Major General Wang for his exemplary service and contribution to the work of MINURSO,” the press release said.