Mauritania: El Ghassim Wane appointed as UN Secretary-General Assistant for Peacekeeping Operations

Mauritanian top African Union (AU) Officer in charge of peace keeping operation El Ghassim Wane was appointed last week as Ban Ki-moon’s assistant for UN Peace Keeping Operations, reports say.
El Ghassim Wane’s appointment came into force last Thursday and he will replace the outgoing assistant Edmond Mulet of Guatemala, now appointed as Chef de Cabinet of UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Before his appointment, Wane was African Union’s Head of Peace Keeping and Security Department from 2009 to 2015.
Prior to that position, the Mauritanian officer also held several senior positions related to security and the peace keeping including Head of the Conflict Management Division, Senior Political Officer, Deputy Head of the Conflict Management Centre, Political Officer at the Refugees, Displaced Persons and Humanitarian Affairs Division, and Spokesperson of the African Union on peace and security issues at the AU and its predecessor the Organisation of African Unity (OUA) from 1994 to 2009.
Wane took part at the African Union negotiation and peace keeping operations in hotbed crisis zone such Libya and Ivory Coast.
He is also reckoned as fluent at French and English and has featured among 50 top African most influential figures in 2012.
El Ghassim Wane was born in 1959 and holds a Master’s degree in public law and international and European studies from Dakar University of Senegal, and University of Lille II of France.
The 56 year old international officer was born in the town of Aleg, South-West of Mauritania.