Norwegian is first woman to head UN peacekeeping force

UN chief Ban Ki-moon named the first everwoman to serve as the head of a UN peacekeeping operation Monday, appointing aNorwegian commander to the UN mission in Cyprus.Major General Kristin Lund of Norway, 56, will replace outgoing Major General ChaoLiu of China in mid-August.Lund, who has 34 years of experience at home and with UN forces, served as deputycommander of the Norwegian Army Forces Command from 2007 to 2009 and chiefof staff of the Norwegian Home Guard. She was also involved in UN missions inLebanon and the former Yugoslavia.The UN peacekeeping mission for Cyprus, UNFICYP, was established in 1964 toprevent the recurrence of fighting between Greek and Turkish Cypriot communities.A force of 930 soldiers and 66 police patrol the cease-fire lines and buffer zone,undertaking humanitarian activities and supporting the UN mission in general.The island has been divided since 1974 when Turkish troops occupied its northernthird in response to an Athens-engineered Greek Cypriot coup seeking union withGreece.In 2004, Greek Cypriot voters rejected a UN blueprint to reunify the Mediterraneanisland at a referendum despite overwhelming acceptance by their Turkishcounterparts.Talks between the two sides under the auspices of the United Nations were largelyfruitless and discontinued in 2012, only to resume again in February of this year.