UNITED NATIONS, April 4 (Xinhua) -- UN Secretary-General Antonio Guterres on Wednesday announced the appointment of Maj. Gen. Gebre Adhana Woldezgu of Ethiopia as the new commander of the UN peacekeeping force in Abyei, an area contested between Sudan and South Sudan.

Gebre succeeds Maj. Gen. Tesfay Gidey Hailemichael of the same country, which is the largest contributor to the force known as the UN Interim Security Force for Abyei.

Gebre brings 38 years of experience in the Ethiopian Army, said Guterres' press service. Gebre has regularly traveled to Sudan, South Sudan, Kenya, Uganda and African Union Mission in Somalia to coordinate common security and border issues with neighboring countries, and was involved in force preparations, planning and deployment of forces for international and regional peacekeeping operations, it said.

The UN peacekeeping mission in Abyei was approved in June 2011 by the UN Security Council.