Former Norwegian Army Chief to head SLMM

[TamilNet, Monday, 21 August 2006, 09:55 GMT]
The next head of the international ceasefire monitors in Sri Lanka is former Norwegian Army chief, Maj. Gen. Lars Johan Sølvberg, diplomatic sources said Monday. Maj. Gen. Sølvberg will take over as head of the Sri Lanka Monitoring Mission (SLMM) from Swedish Maj. Gen. Ulf Henricsson at the end of the month.

Maj. Gen. Sølvberg, 54, retired from the post of Chief of Staff of the Norwegian Army in 2005. Prior to that he headed the Army’s 6th Division for four years. He is credited with a key role in the Army transformation process over the past decade.

He has commanded an infantry brigade, a mechanised infantry brigade, a tank squadran as well as holding staff positions at all levels.

He is a graduate of the US Army War College (1998) and the US Army Command and General Staff College (1991), the Norwegian Army General Staff College (1988) and the Norwegian Military Academy (1977).

Since retiring, he has established a consultancy in Oslo.