UN to discuss peacekeepers for Mali
2013-01-31 11:58
New York - The UN Security Council will soon begin
discussing a possible United Nations peacekeeping force for Mali, an idea the
world body had been uncomfortable with before France's recent military
intervention, envoys said on Wednesday.
Last month, the 15-nation council approved an African-led
force for Mali that likely would have been funded with voluntary contributions
from UN member states and trained by the European Union. That force would not
have begun operations until late this year against Islamist militants who took
control of a vast region of northern Mali last year.
However, France's military intervention this month against
the militants in the West African nation rendered that plan moot, diplomats
said.
"There is increasing talk of moving straight to a UN
peacekeeping operation," a senior Western diplomat said on condition of
anonymity. Another diplomat and a UN official confirmed that, saying the
discussions would begin within days.
It is an issue that US Ambassador to the United Nations
Susan Rice first mentioned last week during a Security Council meeting. Other
council members are now warming to the idea, the diplomats and the UN officials
said.
Deployment of a UN peacekeeping force would require Security
Council approval. Another option would be to send in an African Union force
mandated by the council with logistical and other support from the United
Nations, similar to the AU's Somalia mission.
Washington favours a UN mission rather than an AU force,
diplomats said.
Quick deployment
Details would have to be worked out but one idea floated was
for a UN peacekeeping force of at least 3 000 to 5 000 troops, diplomats said.
They noted, however, that since the three-week-old conflict is continuing, it
is still too early to deploy peacekeepers.
"There's no peace to keep yet," said one diplomat.
"We're still in the peace-enforcement phase."
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had been uncomfortable with
direct UN involvement in the proposed African-led operation, diplomats said,
because it would have been an offensive combat mission - not peacekeeping.
But now that the French-backed Malian army has retaken most
of the desert nation's cities, the possibility of deploying U.N. peacekeepers
has become less remote, the envoys said.
They said a UN peacekeeping force would offer certain
advantages over the African-led force approved by the council last month.
Funding would be clear, it would be easier to monitor human rights compliance
and the United Nations could choose which national contingents to use in the
force.
Many of the African troops already in Mali supporting the
French and Malian militaries could theoretically remain and become part of a UN
peacekeeping force, one diplomat said.
It is an idea France would likely support. Prime Minister
Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Tuesday that Paris would favour a quick deployment of
international monitors to Mali to ensure human rights are not abused.
