One Year in East Timor
These memoirs are the personal observation of Rezaqul Haider in the role of UN and the stakeholders in the conflict. His one-year tenure with UN gave him the opportunity to evaluate the situation closely and play a dominant role in conflict management. He maintained a personal diary of events unfolding on each crucial day and took him a long time shifting the necessary information for the readers to grasp the whole episode. The phases mentioned in the write up are only for easy understanding and in no way any UN decision. His interaction with important personalities and leaders of Indonesia, Portugal, Australia, Malaysia and UN hierarchy helped and guided his performance.
Major General Rezaqul Haider was commissioned in Pakistan Army in the 34 Frontier Force Regiment. After repatriation from Pakistan in 1974 he served in Bangladesh Army in various appointments. He possessed vast command, staff and instructional experience. As Brigadier General, he was selected in UN assignment as the Chief Military Liaison Officer in UNAMET and later as Chief Military Observer in UNTAET in East Timor. Thereby he was witness to the struggle for Independence of East Timor from Indonesia. He retired from active duties of the Army in 2006. He was Director General of Bangladesh Rifles, now Border Guard Bangladesh in 2001. He was also the Bangladesh Ambassador to Turkey before retirement.