2ND LEAD (Adds background)

Norway appoints Swedish Brigadier as Head of SLMM

[TamilNet, Tuesday, 21 February 2006, 13:54 GMT]
Norwegian Government Tuesday announced the appointment of Brigadier Ulf Henricsson, a Swede, as the Head of Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM). "It is very positive that another country in the SLMM has produced such an excellent candidate for this important post," said Mr. Erik Solheim, the Norwegian Minister for International Development, in a press release issued by Norway.

Brigadier Henricsson joined Swedish military as an officer in 1969, worked as general staff officer for six years, and then was promoted to battalion commander. He worked with the Swedish tank programme a number of years before being promoted to Brigade Commander in 1991. During 1991-1994 he served as commanding officer of the Nordic Battle Group in Bosnia. He then served as division commander from the Swedish Eastern Division until 1999, and after that served two years as head of the European Commission military department in Sarajevo.

Since 2002, Brigadier Henricsson has been the Head of the Department for leadership at the Swedish National Defence College.

Full text of the press release issued by the Royal Ministry of Foreign Affairs:

The Norwegian Government appoints new Head of Mission of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM)

The Norwegian Government is pleased to announce the appointment of a new Head of Mission of the SLMM, Brigadier Ulf Henricsson.

Following consultations with both parties to the Ceasefire Agreement, the Government of Sri Lanka and the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam, Norway invited all the countries in the Nordic mission to propose candidates for the post of Head of Mission of the SLMM. The successful candidate, Brigadier Henricsson from Sweden, will assume his duties on 1 April 2006.

“It is very positive that another country in the SLMM has produced such an excellent candidate for this important post,” says the Minister for International Development, Erik Solheim.

Brigadier Henricsson will be succeeding Brigadier Hagrup Haukland from Norway. Brigadier Haukland is leaving the SLMM after four years of service as Chief of Staff from 2002 to 2004, and as Head of Mission from 2005. Mr Solheim commends Brigadier Haukland for his long and dedicated service, saying that “Norway is very grateful to Brigadier Haukland for his commitment and the outstanding performance of his duties in the SLMM.”

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