MAJOR-GENERAL VICTORY RANA APPOINTED FORCE COMMANDER OF UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN CYPRUS

Press Release
SG/A/716
BIO/3262

MAJOR-GENERAL VICTORY RANA APPOINTED FORCE COMMANDER OF UNITED NATIONS PEACEKEEPING FORCE IN CYPRUS

Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced today the appointment of Major-General Victory Rana of Nepal as Force Commander of the United Nations Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus (UNFICYP) to succeed Major-General Evergisto Arturo de Vergara, who relinquishes his post on 15 December 1999.

Major-General Rana enlisted as a cadet in the Nepalese Army in 1966. He is a graduate of the United States Army War College and the German Command and General Staff College as well as the Indian Army Senior Command Course. He has held a range of military appointments in the service of his country including Commandant at the Royal Nepalese Army Command and Staff College, battalion commander (1981-1985) and brigade commander (1995-1996). He is presently serving as the Inspector-General of the Royal Nepalese Army and was responsible for the planning and conduct of military security for general national elections this year.

Major-General Rana served in the United Nations Interim Force in Lebanon in 1980-1981 as a Military Information Officer and he was Military Assistant to the Force Commander in 1989-1990.

Born in 1945, Major-General Rana is married to Padma Rana and they have two children.

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