POLITICS: U.N. Powers Consider Multinational Force for Mideast

By Thalif Deen Reprint | | Print |

Thalif Deen

UNITED NATIONS, Apr 18 2002 (IPS) - A proposal for a multinational peacekeeping force for the war-ravaged West Bank and Gaza is under serious consideration by the five veto-wielding permanent members of the Security Council, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday.

The members – the United States, Britain, France, China and Russia – have said they are awaiting instructions from their respective governments.

“I was encouraged by the discussion I had in the Security Council today, and the way the proposal was received,” Annan told reporters just after he addressed delegates.

“Obviously, they want their capitals to study it. And it is an urgent matter, and I would hope that once the capitals have studied it, the countries that want to participate in the proposed force will act promptly and quickly,” he added.

U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard told reporters that Annan is seeking a multinational force and not a traditional U.N. peacekeeping force primarily because of logistical and financial problems.

The most recent example of such a body is the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) in Afghanistan, which was created by the Security Council last year and is being led by Britain.

Creating a U.N. force would face many obstacles – lack of funds, the non-availability of well-equipped troops or the appropriate weapons to arm some of these volunteer troops – and could take months. Instead, the secretary-general expects a “militarily advanced nation” to take the lead, and pay and arm its troops while soliciting soldiers from other countries with battle-ready armies, Eckhard said.

These heavily-armed troops, he said, would also be empowered to use force to maintain a cease-fire, in contrast to lightly-armed U.N. troops, which are authorised only to fire in self defence.

Annan said he was unsure of the total strength of the proposed force. “I don’t want to throw out any figures now because I would want it to be a coalition of the willing.”

“Once we have put together that coalition, (the participating countries) have to get involved with the planning, and the logistical support, and what sort of command structures (they plan to establish)”, he added.

The proposed force would have to be approved by the Security Council under chapter seven of the U.N. charter, which gives the Security Council the right to take “action with respect to threats to the peace, breaches of the peace, and acts of aggression”.

Last year a proposal for an “observer force” in the occupied territories was rejected by the United States, which has argued that no outside military force should be sent unless it has the blessing of the two fighting parties.

Asked whether the United States had given any indication that it would support his proposal, Annan said: “I said that they are going to go to their capitals and the Security Council will come back to it. And the capitals include Washington.”

Annan added that until now discussion has focused on sending “a limited number of international observers” to the area, where Palestinians say Israeli soldiers have killed hundreds, mainly in the Jenin refugee camp.

“The deployment of such unarmed observers could still be useful, but given the present circumstances, it is doubtful whether their safety and security could be assured,” added the secretary-general.

When Annan made the proposal last week, Ambassador Nasser al-Kidwa, permanent observer of Palestine to the U.N., told reporters Palestinians will offer their “fullest co-operation” for such a force. “We hope the Security Council will heed the proposal,” he said.

But Israeli Ambassador Aaron Jacob was more sceptical. “It will be studied by the Israeli government,” he said, adding he believes “such a force will not help without the political will of the Palestinians to renounce terrorism”.

Annan said there was a need for a multinational force to “create a secure environment as well as provide space for diplomatic and political negotiations”.

“It is urgent, it is imperative. That capacity exists in the world today, and we must now muster the will,” he added.

Annan also told delegates Thursday he was “deeply disturbed” by reports he has received from U.N. officials about the destruction caused in the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank.

“They have described the situation there as horrific. They witnessed people digging out corpses from the rubble with bare hands. The destruction is massive and the impact on the civilian population is devastating,” he added.

Annan called on Israel “urgently to lift the curfew imposed on the camp and to comply fully with its obligations under international humanitarian law to provide full and unimpeded access to humanitarian agencies”.

Amid the rage, despair and hopelessness felt on both sides, he said, it is easy for the region’s people to lose sight of one fundamental truth: “there is no military solution to this conflict”.

Whatever the outcome of its current military operation, Israel cannot achieve long-term security through force of arms, no matter how overwhelming that force may be, Annan added.

The Palestinians, it is equally evident, will never be able to establish their own state by force of arms, let alone by terrorist acts, he said.