Chinese Major General Zhao Jingmin took office on Monday in Western Sahara's capital Laayoun as force commander of the United Nations mission for the referendum in the former Spanish colony (MINURSO).

Zhao, who succeeded General Kurt Mosgaard of Denmark, is the first Chinese officer to be appointed by the UN as a peacekeeping force commander.

"The appointment has shown the UN's trust in the capability of a Chinese military officer and the appreciation of China's 17 years of active participation in UN peacekeeping missions," Zhao told Xinhua by telephone.

Zhao had been a senior officer at the Office of Peacekeeping Affairs in China's National Defense Ministry since October 2003. From 1996 to 1997 he served as a liaison officer with the UN Iraq-Kuwait Observation Mission (UNIKOM). He also served in MINURSO as a military observer from September 1991 to June 1992.

Western Sahara, a mostly desert region, is located on the northwest African Atlantic coast. Morocco, who currently controls Western Sahara, and the Algeria-backed Popular Front for the Liberation of Western Sahara had fought a war over the territory for more than a decade in the last century.

In 1991, the UN peacekeeping force, MINURSO, was set up to monitor the ceasefire between the two sides and organize a referendum on the future of Western Sahara.

However, the referendum has been delayed due to serious disagreements between the warring parties and the mandate of MINURSO has been renewed repeatedly.

Currently, MINURSO consists of more than 220 military observers, 12 of whom are Chinese. Since the mission's foundation 16 years ago, 14 peacekeepers have died in the line of duty.

(Xinhua News Agency September 18, 2007)