Antonio Guterres appoints Zia Ur Rehman of Pakistan as MINURSO force commander

United Nations Secretary-General António Guterres announced on Wednesday the appointment of Major General Zia Ur Rehman of Pakistan as Force Commander of the MINURSO.

Major General Ur Rehman succeeds Major General Xiaojun Wang of China, whose tour of duty ended on 17 February 2019, the United Nations said in a release, adding that the UN Chief «is grateful to Major General Wang for his exemplary service and contribution to the work of MINURSO.»
 
Major General Ur 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 possesses a range of experiences in other leadership, staff, liaison and operational tasks, 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, Major General Ur Rehman served as the Commander of an Infantry Brigade from 2016 to 2017 and of an Infantry Division from 2017.