Australian to command Sinai mission

An Australian army officer has been appointed to head the long-running multinational peacekeeping operation on the border between Egypt and Israel in the Sinai for the next three years.

Major General Simon Stuart will take command of the 1365-member Multinational Force and Observers, a non-UN mission founded in 1981 to oversee the agreement that ended conflict between Israel and Egypt.

Twenty-five Australians and about the same number of New Zealand troops serve with MFO.