Europe

Europe

Veteran French diplomat appointed as new UN peacekeeping chief

02 September 2011 23:46 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. Veteran French diplomat Herve Ladsous has been appointed as the new head of UN peacekeeping to oversee more than 100,000 personnel serving in more than a dozen missions worldwide, according to a statement released by the spokesperson’s office of the Secretary-General here Friday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

"United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon announced today the appointment of Herve Ladsous of France as Under-Secretary- General for Peacekeeping Operations," said the statement.

Ladsous, replacing Alain Le Roy, also a French diplomat who held the post since June 2008, is currently chief of staff at the French Foreign Ministry. He previously served a number of diplomatic posts, including being ambassador to China, Indonesia, Timor-Leste, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, as well as deputy ambassador to the United Nations in New York.

"He (Ladsous) also brings to the position an acute political judgment, strong crisis-management capacities, especially in the area of peacekeeping, a profound understanding of the challenges facing the United Nations," said the statement, citing UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

The statement said Ban had praised the outgoing under-secretary- general for peacekeeping, Alain Le Roy, and expressed gratitude to him.