United Nations, Dec 4 (IANS) United Nations (UN) Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has appointed Lieutenant General Ricardo Augusto Ferreira Costa Neves from Brazil as the new force commander of the UN peace keeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), known as MONUSCO.

According to the UN chief's office, Costa Neves succeeds Lieutenant General Elias Rodrigues Martins Filho from Brazil, who completed his assignment as head of MONUSCO's military component on October 31, Xinhua news agency reported.

Costa Neves has had a distinguished military career with the Brazilian Armed Forces spanning more than 30 years.

He also has prior peacekeeping experience and has served as a military observer in the UN Angola Verification Mission III from 1995 to 1996.

--IANS sdr/