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French national appointed as head of new UN mission in Colombia

Xinhua, March 10, 2016 Adjust font size:

UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday appointed Jean Arnault of France as Head of the newly-established United Nations Mission in Colombia, said a UN spokesman at a daily news briefing.

Arnault, who has been leading the preparations for the future deployment of the mission, will also serve as the Secretary-General's Special Representative in Colombia, said Farhan Haq, deputy spokesman for the secretary-general.

Arnault has until now served as the Delegate of the Secretary-General to the Sub-Commission on End of Conflict Issues within the Colombia peace process, said Haq.

"In this position, he has been working closely with the negotiating teams of the Government of Colombia and the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia-People's Army (FARC-EP) in the context of the peace talks that take place in Havana," Haq added.

In January 2016, the UN Security Council approved moves to set up a UN political mission in Colombia, which would consist of unarmed international observers to monitor disarmament, should a final peace agreement be reached between the Government and the FARC-EP.

An experienced UN political official, Arnault has also worked in senior positions with the UN in Guatemala, Afghanistan, Burundi, Georgia, and was recently the UN Special Adviser to the Group of Friends of Democratic Pakistan.

Arnault is a graduate in Philosophy from the University of Sorbonne-Paris I. Born in 1951, Arnault is married and has two children. Enditem