(Near Verbatim)
PATRICK COKER, ACTING SPOKESMAN
SECURITY COUNCIL CREATES UN MISSION IN CÔTE D'IVOIRE, DELAYS WEST AFRICA TRIP
Determining that the situation in Côte d'Ivoire is a threat to international peace and security in West Africa, the Security Council on Tuesday, 13 May, decided to establish a United Nations Mission in that country.
The Council also tentatively agreed to postpone a planned eight-day mission to explore opportunities for progress towards peace and stability in West Africa. The mission had been slated to travel to Nigeria, Ghana, Côte d'Ivoire, Guinea, Liberia, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone, and Council members were to examine country-specific issues and developments at each stop.
Noting the challenges to Côte d'Ivoire's stability in the wake of last September's coup attempt, the Council unanimously adopted a resolution authorizing the new Mission, to be known as MINUCI, to help guide efforts to implement the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement, a French-brokered peace accord reached in January that calls on the government, rebels and political opposition to share power in a transitional government until elections in 2005.
The new Mission would include a military component, based on an option proposed by Secretary-General Kofi Annan, complementing the operations of the French and the forces of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). In his most recent report to the Council, Mr. Annan recommended deploying such a "military liaison group" to be co-located with the field headquarters of the French and ECOWAS forces, as well as those of the government and rebel forces.
The Council stressed that the military liaison group should initially include 26 military officers and that up to 50 additional officers might be progressively deployed when the Secretary-General determined that there was a need and security conditions permitted.
Under the resolution, the tasks of the military liaison group would include advising the Secretary-General's Special Representative, Albert Tevoedjre, on military matters; monitoring the military situation, including the security of Liberian refugees; and establishing links with the French and ECOWAS forces, as well as with the Forces armees nationales de Côte d'Ivoire (FANCI) and the forces nouvelle, in order to build confidence and trust between the armed groups.
The military liaison group would also provide input to forward planning on disengagement, disarmament and demobilization and identifying future tasks, in order to advise the Government and support the French and ECOWAS forces.
In addition to the military liaison group, the Council approved the establishment of a small staff to support the Special Representative on political, legal, civil affairs, civilian police, elections, media and public relations, humanitarian and human rights issues.
The Council asked that all Ivoirian parties cooperate with MINUCI in the execution of its mandate, to ensure the freedom of movement of its personnel throughout the country and the unimpeded and safe movement of the personnel of humanitarian agencies, and to support efforts to find safe and durable solutions for refugees and displaced persons.
Speaking to the press following the adoption of the resolution, the Council's President, Ambassador Munir Akram of Pakistan, said the decision to postpone the mission to West Africa was not political but merely logistical. "There is still a sense of urgency," he said, "and we will reschedule this mission to go as soon as possible - in not months but weeks."
The Ambassador said the Council's unanimous move to create a UN Mission in Côte d'Ivoire sent an "important signal to all the parties concerned." The Ivoirian parties should sense the Council's concern in the resolution that they abide by the agreements that had been reached and that no actions should be taken to deviate from movement towards peace in the region.
"The message in the resolution will be followed up by the Council's mission to the region, and between the two, we hope that there will be positive movement," he added.
Asked if the decision to postpone the visit to West Africa so Council members could devote more attention to Iraq sent a "bad message" - particularly since so much time had been spent dealing with the Iraq issue, Ambassador Akram said he believed the situation in West Africa deserves urgent attention and that was why the Mission would still be sent.
"At the same time, I think that some of the representatives that were to accompany the mission felt that their governments required them to be here at this time," he said. "So it's a question of determining governmental priorities. The Council is currently seized of so many important issues, but I can tell you that West Africa has not lost its place of priority - the Mission will go very soon."
UN OFFICIALS URGE LIBERIA TO FIND SOLUTIONS FOR 'DESPERATE' DISPLACED PEOPLE
The top United Nations humanitarian official in Liberia - a country caught in the grip of ongoing violence and civil unrest - yesterday called on the Security Council to quickly reschedule a planned mission to the volatile West African region where hundreds of thousands of internally displaced people are "desperate" for help.
At a press briefing at UN Headquarters in New York, Ali Muktar Farah, head of the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Liberia, called on the Security Council to undertake its mission to West Africa - which had been postponed earlier this week - as soon as possible and to convince Liberian President Charles Taylor to sit down with the rebels and agree to a ceasefire.
"If that does not happen, the conflict will escalate and engulf the capital, Monrovia, where half a million people today are in a desperate situation. It could also threaten the prevailing peace in next-door Sierra Leone," he warned.
At a time when the world's attention was focused on Iraq, the humanitarian and political situation in Liberia was getting desperate, Mr. Farah said. President Taylor was "mad" at the Security Council's extension of the sanctions against Liberia - which now also covered timber for 10 months. "He feels his hands are tied by the Council and he therefore cannot fight back against the rebels."
The conflict between the Liberian Government and rebels - mainly the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) in the north and west of the country - has spread to Monrovia, in the last two months, he said. There had also been fighting in the eastern part of the country, with a new group known as the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL) spreading into the capital.
Mr. Farah said President Taylor did not want to deal with the Security Council and the UN - as demonstrated by his refusal to meet yesterday with UN High Commissioner for Refugees Ruud Lubbers (UNHCR) - and would rather deal with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the African Union and other African initiatives.
Meanwhile, in Monrovia on the third leg of a five-nation West Africa mission, Mr. Lubbers warned Liberian officials yesterday that the humanitarian situation in their country has "gone from bad to worse," as intensified fighting in recent months continued to paralyze humanitarian work and prevent Liberian refugees abroad from returning home. "I see the misery, it is simply overwhelming," he said.
The High Commissioner had been expected to meet with President Taylor, but the meeting did not materialize. Mr. Lubbers did however meet with several government officials in the country's capital and stressed that Liberia needed to make an immediate commitment to a political solution that will enable hundreds of thousands of refugees and internally displaced people to go home and rebuild their lives.
Fighting in 11 of Liberia's 15 counties has already displaced or threatens to displace nearly half of the country's 2.7 million people, UNHCR stated. Liberia currently has nearly 17,000 Sierra Leone refugees, over 38,000 Ivorian refugees and nearly 44,000 Liberians who returned home following the recent conflict in neighbouring Côte d'Ivoire.
"Until there is a good political solution in Liberia, the humanitarian community will not be able to do its job properly," Mr. Lubbers stressed, urging the opposing sides to put a ceasefire in place as soon as possible. "Humanitarian access cannot wait - we need to help people now."
UNAMSIL ACTING SPECIAL REPRESENTATIVE DECORATES GUINEAN PEACEKEEPERS WITH UN MEDALS OF HONOUR
The Acting Special Representative of the Secretary-General in Sierra Leone, Mr. Alan Doss, and UNAMSIL Force Commander Lt. Gen. Daniel Ishmael Opande, on Wednesday, 14 May, decorated more than 700 Guinean peacekeepers with United Nations medals of honour at a colourful ceremony held in the southern town of Bo.
Addressing the newly decorated 773 officers and soldiers, who included 11 women, of the Guinean Battalion (GUINBATT) 3, Mr. Doss commended them for their contribution in bringing peace and stability to Sierra Leone. He noted that Guinea has been contributing troops to UN peacekeeping operations since 1960 when the country sent its troops to Congo. Noting that the departure of GUINBATT 3 would mark the end of a Guinean presence in UNAMSIL, the Acting Special Representative congratulated the GUINBATT 3 Commanding Officer, Col. S. Camara Souleymane, and his troops and, through them, thanked the Guinean government for their support to peace in Sierra Leone.
After the presentation of medals, the peacekeepers entertained the guests with Guinean cultural and martial arts performances. UNAMSIL Sector Centre Commander Brig. Gen. Habib Hassan and his Sector West counterpart, Brig. Gen. Steve Guar, and other contingent commanders as well as senior UNAMSIL officers also attended the occasion.
Meanwhile, on 12 May, the Force Commander visited the southern district of Moyamba to assess rehabilitation work being undertaken by Bangladeshi engineers on Mabang Bridge and Moyamba-Songo Road. Work on the 70-km Moyamba-Songo Road started last month and is expected to be completed by July 2003. Gen. Opande commended the engineers for their good work, adding that the people of Sierra Leone would remember them for it.
The Force Commander later visited the island of Bonthe to assess the general security situation in the area. The island is where the indictees of the Special Court for Sierra Leone are being held pending trial for crimes against humanity, war crimes and related offences.
UNAMSIL PEACEKEEPERS HOLD DRILL COMPETITION IN REETOWN
UNAMSIL peacekeepers yesterday held an inter-sector drill competition at the Wilberforce Barracks in the capital, Freetown.
The drill displays, which were witnessed by UNAMSIL Force Commander Lt. Gen. Daniel I. Opande and his deputy, Maj. Gen. Syed Athar Ali, were a culmination of sector drill competitions whereby each of the three sectors - West, East and Centre - presented two of their best drill teams. The participating finalists were teams from the Bangladeshi Battalion 8 and the Nigerian Battalion 14 (Sector West); Pakistani Battalion 6 and Zambian Battalion 5 (Sector East); and Ghanaian Battalion 7 and Nepalese Battalion 3 (Sector Centre).
At the end of the day's competitions, Sector West emerged as the overall winner within the sector category, with Sector Centre coming in second. Ghanaian peacekeepers clinched first place in the battalion category, followed by the Bangladeshi and the Nigerian battalions. The drill competition was interspersed by cultural performances by the Nigerian, Ghanaian and Kenyan peacekeepers.
In his remarks at the end of the competitions, the Force Commander thanked the participants "for having displayed the true spirit of sportsmanship and the true spirit of peacekeeping."
"For those of you who have won, let me congratulate you very much," he said, "For those of you who were eliminate, I want to encourage you that you also have a chance of winning in future competitions." Gen. Opande also paid tribute to the judges for their role in the competitions. "When you have fine men and women displaying their best skills, it's not easy for judges to come up with the winners."
The occasion was also attended by sector commanders who included Brig. Gen. Steve Guar (Sector West), Brig. Gen. Habib Hassan (Sector Centre), and Brig. Gen. Muhammed Ijaz Hassan Awan (Sector East) as well as other senior UNAMSIL military officers.
UNAMSIL Headquarters, Mammy Yoko, P. O. Box 5, Freetown, Sierra Leone Tel: 232-22-273-183/4/5 Fax: 232-22-273-189