UN team screens police for peace-keeping duties

Accra (Greater Accra), 11 Jan. '99 - A three-member United Nations (UN) police recruiting team arrived in Accra last night to assist the Ghana Police in selecting and training of Police Personnel to serve in Bosnia. The team is led by Superintendent Helmer Pettersen of the civilian Police unit of the UN headquarters. Others are Major Eugueni Onelthenko, of the UN civilian police and Mr Robert Rail, of the UN international training support section. Speaking to newsmen at the Airport Supt. Pettersen said 150 men have been selected for testing in language and driving skills out of which 98 will be chosen to serve as UN police peace keepers in Bosnia. After a week 's training, the selected Policemen will leave in March for a year's peacekeeping operation in Bosnia. Ghana already has about 100 policemen serving in Bosnia whose operation will end in March. Ghana Police have been involved in UN operation in Bosnia since 1995 and also serve in Namibia, Mozambique, Angola, Cambodia, Iraq, Somalia and Western Sahara. They were met on arrival by Supt. F Adu-Poku of the Legal department, Police Headquarters, ASP Richard Johnson and Inspector Peter Kobina all of the Police Protocol Department.