In a ceremony on March 1, Major General Kjell Narve Ludvigsen was given command of the Multinational Force and Observers (MFO) in the Sinai.
15/03/2007 :: Major General Ludvigsen took over command of the Multilateral Force and Observers (MFO) from the Italian Major General Roberto Martinelli in a ceremony attended by MFO Director General James Larocco, the Ambassadors of Israel, Italy and Norway, as well as high-ranking military and civilian Egyptian officials in a ceremony at the MFO North Camp in Northern Sinai.
Major General Ludvigsen will serve for a period of two years. This is the fourth time a Norwegian general serves as Force Commander since the force was established in 1982 as a result of the Camp David agreement.
MFO was established jointly by Israel, Egypt and USA to control that the security agreements in the peace treaty of 1979 are respected. The force is deployed in the demilitarised zone in east Sinai.
General Ludvigsen will command a force of about 1700 troops and 600 civilians, including a civilian observer unit of 15 persons. The government of Norway has decided to support the civilian observer unit with USD 1.5m per year for three years starting January 2007.
11 countries contribute troops to the force, and USA is the biggest contributor with a contingent of about 700 persons. Fiji and Colombia also have large contingents of about 340 each, while Italy contributes a coastal patrol and France a plane with crew. The other countries mostly contribute staff officers and observers. Norway for the time being contributes three staff officers.
Major General Ludvigsen was born in the Norwegian city of Fredrikstad in 1947 and has since August 2006 been commander of Kristiansten fort in Trondheim. Ludvigsen has a broad and solid military education and service in Norway and abroad. His experience includes recent service in Norway as Commander Land Forces Norway and prior to that as Commander Regional Headquarters South Norway and Chief of Staff Joint Command North Norway. The General has also served in the NATO staff in the UK, Lebanon, and Bosnia-Herzegovina.