Guterres appoints new head to monitor ceasefire in Yemen

United Nations, Dec 24 UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has announced the appointment of retired Maj. Gen. Michael Beary of Ireland as head of the UN Mission to support the Hodeidah Agreement (UNMHA) and chair of the Redeployment Coordination Committee.

Beary succeeds retired Lt. Gen. Abhijit Guha of India, reports Xinhua news agency.

Major General Beary has had a long career since joining the Irish Army as an Infantry Corps Officer in 1975, serving from 2016 to 2018 as Head of Mission and Force Commander of the UN Interim Force in Lebanon (UNIFIL) having previously served there in 1982, 1989 and 1994-95.

He further served as General Officer commanding Second Brigade Irish Defence Forces from 2013 to 2016 with a wide variety of assignments, holding command and staff officer appointments, including at the unit, brigade and defence force headquarters levels.

He spent 10 years on overseas deployments, including in Afghanistan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Iraq, Lebanon, Somalia and Uganda.

Since his retirement from the Irish Army in 2018, General Beary has lectured at universities in Ireland, authored publications on international peacekeeping, while also having led UN Boards of Inquiry in Africa.