US delays I Coast peacekeepers
2004-02-04 14:26
United Nations - UN peacekeepers will not be deployed in Ivory Coast until at least April, diplomatic sources said on Tuesday.
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan last month recommended that a force of more than 6 000 troops would be ready by February 4, and France, which has 4 000 troops in the West African country, is also pressing the case.
But the United States has been holding up the deployment of the force. The diplomatic sources said a resolution on Ivory Coast to be considered by the UN Security Council on Wednesday is only expected to renew the mandate of the current UN mission in the country until February 27.
The resolution will also renew UN backing for the French and African troops monitoring a ceasefire between government forces and rebels who launched an uprising in September 2002.
The draft calls on Annan to prepare the deployment of a possible peacekeeping operation over the next five weeks.
Speaking in the Ivory Coast capital, Abidjan, on Sunday, French Foreign Minister Dominique de Villepin expressed confidence that a UN peacekeeping force would deploy "in coming weeks".
He said hoped the force would lay groundwork for elections next year and assist with the disarmament of the rebel force.
- AFP