Abu Tayeb Muhammad Zahirul Alam is a retired

lieutenant general Lieutenant general (Lt Gen, LTG and similar) is a military rank used in many countries. The rank traces its origins to the Middle Ages, where the title of lieutenant general was held by the second-in-command on the battlefield, who was norma ...

of the

Bangladesh Army The Bangladesh Army () is the land warfare branch, and the largest component of the Bangladesh Armed Forces. The primary mission of the Army is to defend the land of Bangladesh from any external attack. Control of personnel and operations is ad ...

. He served as force commander of the

United Nations Mission in Liberia The United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) was a United Nations peacekeeping operation established in September 2003 to monitor a ceasefire agreement in Liberia following the resignation of President Charles Taylor and the conclusion of the ...

(UNMIL). He was the first officer in the Bangladesh Army to achieve such a high post in a UN Peacekeeping Mission. Previously he was the commandant of the National Defence College, Bangladesh. He is serving as chairman of

Hamdard Public College Hamdard Public College (), also known as HPC, is a private higher secondary educational institution located at Dhanmondi, Dhaka, Bangladesh. It was established in 2010. History Hamdard Public College was founded in 2010 by Hakim Md Yusuf Haroo ...

's governing body.

Personal life and education

He was born in 1952 in

Boalkhali Boalkhali () is an upazila of Chattogram District in Chattogram Division, Bangladesh. Geography Boalkhali is located at . It had 44108 households and its total area is 126.46 km2. According to the 2001 Bangladesh Census, there were 36,58 ...

East Bengal East Bengal (; ''Purbô Bangla/Purbôbongo'') was the eastern province of the Dominion of Pakistan, which covered the territory of modern-day Bangladesh. It consisted of the eastern portion of the Bengal region, and existed from 1947 until 195 ...

(now

Bangladesh Bangladesh, officially the People's Republic of Bangladesh, is a country in South Asia. It is the List of countries and dependencies by population, eighth-most populous country in the world and among the List of countries and dependencies by ...

). He is married and has two children. Alam obtained his master's degree in war studies from

King's College London King's College London (informally King's or KCL) is a public university, public research university in London, England. King's was established by royal charter in 1829 under the patronage of George IV of the United Kingdom, King George IV ...

in 1993, where he was a Chevening Scholar, and has studied at the Royal College of Defence Studies in the United Kingdom.

Career

In Army

He joined the army in 1975 and has served in various capacities. From 1998 to 2000, he was director of military training at the Army headquarters. During 2001–2003, he served as division commander. Prior to his appointment as force commander of

(UNMIL), he was serving as commandant of the National Defence College, from 04 Jan 2004 to 12 Jun 2008. He was supposed to join the High Commission to Australia as an ambassador, but later Lieutenant General Masud Uddin Chowdhury joined instead. Then, he got the prestigious appointment as force commander at Liberia.

UN mission

From 1994 to 1996, he commanded a mechanized infantry battalion within the United Nations Iraq-Kuwait Observer Mission (UNIKOM). He was appointed as force commander of UNMIL by

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or UNSECGEN) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the United Nations System#Six principal organs, six principal organs of ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was the South Korean minister ...

in October 2008.

Post-retirement

After retirement, Zahirul joined as president of the seven-member executive committee of the Chevening Society of Bangladesh. He served as chairman of the Audit Committee of

United Commercial Bank United Commercial Bank (Chinese: 聯合銀行) was an overseas Chinese bank in the United States, based in San Francisco, California. It was a subsidiary of UCBH Holdings. Founded in 1974 as United Federal Savings and Loan Association, it cha ...

. He was chef de mission of the Bangladesh contingent for the Rio Olympics.

References

External links

UN Biography, Lieutenant General A.T.M. Zahirul Alam
{{DEFAULTSORT:Alam, A. T. M. Zahirul 1952 births Living people Alumni of King's College London Bangladesh Army generals Bangladeshi generals Jhenaidah Cadet College alumni