Brazilian Lt. Gen. Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar (file photo)

    UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 7 (Xinhuanet) -- UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan was shocked and saddened by the sudden death of the commander of the UN peacekeeping force in Haiti, a UN spokesman said on Saturday.

    Brazilian Lt. Gen. Urano Teixeira da Matta Bacellar, the commander of the military component of the UN Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH), was found dead Saturday morning in his accommodations.

    "A full investigation is under way," UN spokesman Stephanie Dujarric said in a statement, adding that Barcellar's deputy, Chilean Gen. Eduardo Aldunate Herman was named as the interim commander.

    Annan expressed his heartfelt condolences to Bacellar's family and to the government of Brazil, the statement noted.

    Bacellar had been in command of the 9,000-strong UN force since September 2005, which was sent to Haiti months after an armed revolt ousted then-President Jean-Bertrand Aristide in February 2004.

    Quoting unnamed UN officials, news agency reports said Bacellar apparently shot himself in the head and he appeared to have been alone in his suite at the Montana hotel in the capital Port-au-Prince at the time of shooting. Enditem