Seraphim
08-02-2003, 05:15 AM
http://story.news.yahoo.com/news?tmpl=story&u=/ap/20030802/ap_on_re_af/un_liberia&cid=515&ncid=716
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS - The Security Council approved sending a multinational force to Liberia (news - web sites) to help end fighting in the West African nation and maintain security after President Charles Taylor steps down.
The 12-0 vote on Friday came a month after Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) started seeking a U.N. mandate for an international force that would help end Liberia's civil war.
"I hope this implies a new political will, a will that, I think, has been absent among the international community," Annan said. "But now that this resolution is passed, I hope we will move ahead with urgent and determined action to help the Liberian people."
The United States sponsored the resolution and wanted a unanimous vote. But France, Germany and Mexico abstained because they opposed a provision exempting American peacekeepers from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. The United States vehemently opposes the international war crimes tribunal, fearing frivolous or political prosecutions of U.S. troops.
The resolution authorized a two-month deployment of the multinational force to be followed by sending U.N. peacekeepers.
Disputes over who would participate in the multinational force, and who would pay for it, had delayed the deployment.
Nigeria is expected to provide about 1,500 troops — the vanguard of what regional leaders said should be a 5,000-strong foreign force. The first 300 soldiers should arrive Monday with armored vehicles, said Col. Theophilus Tawiah of Ghana, the future force's chief of staff.
Ghana, Senegal and Mali each will send 250 troops thereafter, using U.N. and U.S. planes, Tawiah said.
It was still unclear whether U.S. Marines on three warships that are expected to arrive off Liberia's coast soon will go ashore.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte reiterated that the Bush administration wants the force being assembled by the Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS, to take the lead.
"An effective response demands intensive involvement by ECOWAS and the international community anchored by the United Nations (news - web sites)," he said. "The United States will do its part to support this endeavor."
Annan said it's up to President Bush (news - web sites) whether the Marines join the multinational force, but he made clear he expects U.S. participation.
"If it's a multinational force, the multinational forces are Nigerian and U.S. — they didn't say an ECOWAS force or Nigerian force," Annan told The Associated Press.
The resolution gives the multinational force a robust mandate and authorizes it to support a June 17 cease-fire agreement which has been repeatedly broken.
The force is also authorized to help ensure delivery of humanitarian aid, and to prepare for the initial stages of disarming and demobilizing combatants.
"I cannot emphasize how crucial it is for Taylor to leave now," Negroponte said, stressing one of Bush's key demands. Taylor has repeatedly promised to cede power but backtracks each time.
Annan said the United Nations would "do our best" to meet the Oct. 1 deadline to deploy U.N. peacekeepers.
The world body has no standing army and relies on troop contributions from its 191 member states. It normally takes four to six months to assemble a U.N. force.
Liberia was founded in the 19th century by freed American slaves and retains close cultural ties to the United States. It has been engulfed in intermittent conflict since Taylor launched a civil war in 1989.
By EDITH M. LEDERER, Associated Press Writer
UNITED NATIONS - The Security Council approved sending a multinational force to Liberia (news - web sites) to help end fighting in the West African nation and maintain security after President Charles Taylor steps down.
The 12-0 vote on Friday came a month after Secretary-General Kofi Annan (news - web sites) started seeking a U.N. mandate for an international force that would help end Liberia's civil war.
"I hope this implies a new political will, a will that, I think, has been absent among the international community," Annan said. "But now that this resolution is passed, I hope we will move ahead with urgent and determined action to help the Liberian people."
The United States sponsored the resolution and wanted a unanimous vote. But France, Germany and Mexico abstained because they opposed a provision exempting American peacekeepers from prosecution by the International Criminal Court. The United States vehemently opposes the international war crimes tribunal, fearing frivolous or political prosecutions of U.S. troops.
The resolution authorized a two-month deployment of the multinational force to be followed by sending U.N. peacekeepers.
Disputes over who would participate in the multinational force, and who would pay for it, had delayed the deployment.
Nigeria is expected to provide about 1,500 troops — the vanguard of what regional leaders said should be a 5,000-strong foreign force. The first 300 soldiers should arrive Monday with armored vehicles, said Col. Theophilus Tawiah of Ghana, the future force's chief of staff.
Ghana, Senegal and Mali each will send 250 troops thereafter, using U.N. and U.S. planes, Tawiah said.
It was still unclear whether U.S. Marines on three warships that are expected to arrive off Liberia's coast soon will go ashore.
U.S. Ambassador John Negroponte reiterated that the Bush administration wants the force being assembled by the Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS, to take the lead.
"An effective response demands intensive involvement by ECOWAS and the international community anchored by the United Nations (news - web sites)," he said. "The United States will do its part to support this endeavor."
Annan said it's up to President Bush (news - web sites) whether the Marines join the multinational force, but he made clear he expects U.S. participation.
"If it's a multinational force, the multinational forces are Nigerian and U.S. — they didn't say an ECOWAS force or Nigerian force," Annan told The Associated Press.
The resolution gives the multinational force a robust mandate and authorizes it to support a June 17 cease-fire agreement which has been repeatedly broken.
The force is also authorized to help ensure delivery of humanitarian aid, and to prepare for the initial stages of disarming and demobilizing combatants.
"I cannot emphasize how crucial it is for Taylor to leave now," Negroponte said, stressing one of Bush's key demands. Taylor has repeatedly promised to cede power but backtracks each time.
Annan said the United Nations would "do our best" to meet the Oct. 1 deadline to deploy U.N. peacekeepers.
The world body has no standing army and relies on troop contributions from its 191 member states. It normally takes four to six months to assemble a U.N. force.
Liberia was founded in the 19th century by freed American slaves and retains close cultural ties to the United States. It has been engulfed in intermittent conflict since Taylor launched a civil war in 1989.