Major-General Hassen Ebrahim Mussa of Ethiopia has been appointed as Force Commander of the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei.

The announcement was made on Friday by UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Maj-Gen Musa succeeds Lieutenant Gen Birhanu Jula Gelalcha of Ethiopia, whose term will end on the 20th of January.

He is currently serving as the Head of Peacekeeping Coordination Center in the Ethiopian Armed Forces.

Maj-Gen Mussa graduated from the Ethiopian Defense Command and Staff College in 2005 and was a Corps Commander in the Ethiopian Armed Forces from 2011 to 2012.

He previously served as the Sector Commander North in the African Union-UN Mission in Darfur, where he gained valuable experience in UN peacekeeping.

Prior to this, he held a number of other appointments within the Ethiopian Armed Forces, starting in 1995.