The name Shidane Arone figured prominently in relation to the Canadian defence forces in the years before Gen John De Chastelain's departure from Canada to take part in the peace initiatives in Northern Ireland in the mid-1990s.

Arone was a 16-year-old youth from the wretched Somali town of Belet Huen when Canada's "elite" Airborne Regiment was sent there as part of the UN mission in Somalia in 19921993. The teenager was captured by Canadian soldiers while supposedly trying to steal from their camp in March 1993. What happened next came to destroy the reputation of the Canadian defence forces and some of its most senior figures.

Arone was tortured and murdered by Canadian troops, some of whom videotaped the event and took trophy pictures. The soldiers killed other Somalis. The matter came to public attention in Canada in 1995, and led to a public inquiry which discovered a pattern of months of brutal treatment of Somali captives by Canadian soldiers. The soldiers beat, abused, humiliated and took trophy photographs of dozens of Somali civilian captives.

Two soldiers were convicted of Arone's murder.

The inquiry found that the Canadian military's first reaction was to cover up the details of the Arone killing and that of another Somali man who was shot in the back as he ran away from the Canadian camp perimeter.

The inquiry sought to find out why the Airborne Regiment was sent to Somalia when senior officers knew it was plagued by discipline and command problems. One in five of the regiment's non-commissioned officers had an army or police criminal record.

Other video evidence that came to light showed the airborne soldiers participating, at their home camp at Petawawa in Canada, in "hazing" parties where recruits were subjected to disgusting initiation rites.

The problems in the Canadian defence forces were largely unknown outside the military when the Canadian government took the decision in late 1992 to follow the US and other big Western nations into the UN mission in Somalia.

The Canadian eagerness to participate was prompted by the pictures of the famine-ravaged land. The Canadian government directed its military chiefs to prepare and immediately dispatch a major contingent. The Canadian defence forces were not prepared.

The subsequent revelations and inquiry led the government to disband the entire Airborne Regiment in October 1995. It also pilloried some of the country's top soldiers. Gen De Chastelain, who was chief of defence staff from September 1989, with the exception of a year from January 1993 to January 1994, when he was the Canadian ambassador to the US, did not escape criticism. Rows broke out between the military and politicians.

Gen De Chastelain was embroiled in the controversy directly when it emerged that he promoted a senior officer, knowing that he had destroyed evidence about the "hazing" rituals, against the wishes of his political bosses.

On October 10th, 1995, an editorial in the Ottawa Citizen said: "Petulant chief of defence staff John De Chastelain once again thumbs his nose at ineffective Defence Minister David Collenette and the Minister's tattered credibility sustains another direct hit."

It added: "Gen De Chastelain's decision to promote Airborne Regiment commander Lieut Col Peter Kenward is the latest example of the defence chief's contempt for Mr Collenette. Lieut Col Kenward destroyed Airborne hazing videos - potential evidence in the Somalia inquiry. Gen De Chastelain thought this an error in judgment and then, against the wishes of the Defence Minister, promoted Lieut Col Kenward. The chief of defence staff has the right to do that - officially."

In late November 1995, the general was appointed to head the Independent International Commission on Decommissioning (IICD). He had already served previously on US Senator George Mitchell's International Commission, along with former Finnish prime minister Mr Harri Holkeri. He was ideally placed to head up the IICD.

Aged 58, he was due for retirement a month later. He left Canada with the Prime Minister, Mr Jean Chretien's blessing ringing in his ears. "I am confident Gen De Chastelain will make a significant contribution to the vital peace process. All Canadians should be proud that one of our own has been selected for this important task," Mr Chretien said.

Gen De Chastelain joined the Canadian army in 1955. A graduate of the Royal Military College of Canada, he has an impeccable record of service with the Canadian army and the UN. He held a number of command and senior staff appointments, culminating in his appointment to chief of defence staff.

In addition to his military decorations, he is an Officer of the Order of Canada, the country's honours system. He is married with grown children.

He was born a British subject, the son of a British diplomat in Romania. Both his parents worked for British intelligence during the second World War. He was educated in England and Scotland, before going to Canada in 1955 at the age of 18.

His British family background may have attracted unionist approval on his secondment to the decommissioning job in Northern Ireland.