Canada promotes criticized officer

OTTAWA, July 25 (UPI) -- A Canadian military officer criticized for his role as a U.N. peacekeeper in a 1990s Somalia mission has been promoted to general.

Col. Serge Labbe was promoted to the rank of brigadier-general July 2 without public notice, the Canwest News Service reported. Labbe served as one of the senior officers in the 1992-1993 mission to Somalia, during which Canadian paratroopers tortured a 16-year-old man to death. Inquiries also showed two Somalis were shot in the back after they entered a Canadian camp

Labbe was never charged with any of the incidents, although a 1997 inquiry said he exercised "poor and inappropriate leadership," the Ottawa Citizen said.

Labbe was denied a promotion to brigadier-general twice before, the newspaper said.