The United Nations has named Chilean General Eduardo Aldunate Herman as the interim military commander of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), Chile's defense ministry said on Saturday.

Herman took over the post hours after his predecessor, General Urano Teixeira Da Matta Bacellar of Brazil, was found dead in his hotel room in the Haitian capital of Port-au-Prince.

Chilean Defense Minister Jaime Ravinet expressed condolences to the Brazilian government for "this most regrettable turn of events," said the defense ministry.

Earlier in the day, Da Matta Bacellar's body had been found in his room at the Hotel Montana with a bullet wound in the head, said a report released by MINUSTAH, adding that he appeared to have committed suicide.

The general, 58, had been in command of the 9,000-strong UN force in Haiti since the end of August.

In New York, a spokesman for UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said that the UN chief was "shocked and saddened" to learn of the incident and that an investigation was under way.

Source: Xinhua