UNITED NATIONS (AP) - France circulated a draft U.N. resolution Tuesday that would boost the U.N. peacekeeping mission in Ivory Coast by more than 1,200 personnel to help counter precarious security and monitor an arms embargo.
The request for 1,226 new military personnel for the Ivory Coast mission, which currently consists of 6,000 U.N. peacekeepers, was made in a January report by U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan. Some 5,000 French troops are also in the country but operate independently.
The draft resolution is meant "to take into account the SG's report," France's U.N. Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sabliere said, using the secretary-general's initials. "The situation is unstable in Abidjan, and the SG thinks that strengthening the force will help the force in Abidjan to fulfill its mandate."
The reinforcements would include an 850-man infantry battalion, eight attack and light helicopters and support staff of 270 personnel, as well as a 125-member police unit and other staff.
A resolution adopted by the council on Nov. 15 imposed an arms embargo on Ivory Coast and gave the government and the rebels until Dec. 15 to get the peace process back on track or face a travel ban and asset freeze against those blocking peace, violating human rights and preventing the disarmament of combatants. Without any significant movement toward peace, the council took action, unanimously adopting a resolution earlier this month authorizing U.N. peacekeepers and French forces to monitor implementation of an arms embargo.
Annan had sought a new medical facility in Abidjan, as well as more security and public information personnel to monitor so-called "hate media" and collect information about the arms embargo as well as the situation along the country's borders.
| In fifty years they could do the same kind of job they did for the Palestinians. |
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