Norwegian major general first female tapped to lead U.N. peacekeeping force

NEW YORK, May 12 (UPI) -- The United Nations has appointed Major General Kristin Lund as its first female peacekeeping force commander.

Lund, of Norway, will assume command of the U.N. Peacekeeping Force in Cyprus.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon met with Lund on Monday in New York to congratulate her on breaking "another glass ceiling," an accomplishment that he joked was undertaken "with commanding force!"

The U.N. Cyprus command "is just one of five peacekeeping operations led by women," the U.N. head observed, and with Lund's appointment, it "becomes the first in the world to have dual female leadership."

Lund began working in U.N. peacekeeping operations with a deployment to Lebanon in 1986.