SG/A/977
BIO/3736
PKO/129
30 January 2006

Biographical Note

Secretary-General Appoints Lieutenant General Jasbir Singh Lidder New Force Commander of Sudan Mission

NEW YORK, 27 January (UN Headquarters) -- United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Lieutenant General Jasbir Singh Lidder of India as Force Commander of the United Nations Mission in the Sudan (UNMIS).

Since 2004, Lieutenant General Lidder has served as Additional Director-General Military Operations at the Army Headquarters in New Delhi.  Previously, he was the Commanding Officer of an infantry division from 2002 to 2004.  Between 2000 and 2002, he was Brigadier General Staff of an Army Corps.  He also served as Chief of Staff of the United Nations peacekeeping force in Mozambique (ONUMOZ) from June 1994 to January 1995.

Lieutenant General Lidder holds a Master of Science in Defence and Strategic Studies from the Madras University (India), as well as a Master of Philosophy in Defence Studies and Management from Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidhyalaya Indore (India).  He attended the National Defence College (New Delhi) in 2000.

Lieutenant General Lidder was born in 1949.  He is married and has a son who is serving in the Indian Army, and a daughter who is a neuro-molecular scientist.

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