Leavenworth Strategist

UN ponders future of Congo mission

(FT) By Harvey Morris in Washington

The United Nations is being forced into a drastic reappraisal of its 10-year military presence in the Democratic Republic of Congo where conflict, displacement, disease and hunger continue to undermine the peace its forces were sent there to keep.

By the end of this year, and most likely this week, the Security Council will meet to extend the mandate of the force, known as Monuc, its French acronym, by just five months instead of the usual 12.

A decade after the UN dispatched a few dozen military observers to monitor a ceasefire in Congo's civil war, Monuc has 19,000 uniformed personnel on the ground trying to help the government of Joseph Kabila, president, establish security amid a plethora of internal conflicts.

In the past year, the peacekeepers have been battered from various sides, castigated by human rights groups that claimed they turned a blind eye to the crimes of allies in government forces and accused of passivity in their mission of protecting civilians.

From "Environmental Demands Grow for U.N. Peacekeeping Troops"

NY Times article By NATHANIAL GRONEWOLD, STAFF REPORTER of Greenwire

Last week, the Security Council held a debate on the state of peacekeeping since it was first conceived some 60 years ago. At the center of the talks lay a 56-page document prepared by DPKO outlining the problems and possible remedies, a "non-paper" dubbed internally as "New Horizons." The diplomats engaged in the all-day discussions covered the litany of grim statistics and bad news but failed to come up with an ultimate solution to the problem.

"There's clearly a consensus on the points which have to be strengthened in peacekeeping operations, broadening the base of troop-contributing countries, and consensus on how to have better guidance on protection of civilians and robust peacekeeping," DPKO chief Alain Le Roy told reporters.

DPKO says it has more than 115,000 people deployed to 20 operations it leads globally, including 100,000 uniformed personnel, far above the 65,000 troops that NATO has deployed around the world. According to the Center on International Cooperation's most recent "Annual Review of Global Peace Operations," the United Nations today manages the second-largest overseas force in the world, after the United States. Factoring in normal troop rotations, DPKO manages an estimated 200,000 men and women under arms.

By contrast, in 2003, the United Nations' total peacekeeping troop strength was about 40,000 personnel. Global peacekeeping was about a tenth the size it is today just 10 years ago, when just 15,000 U.N. peacekeepers were deployed.

Indonesian military to hold joint UN peacekeeping forces exercise

  JAKARTA, June 4 (Xinhua) -- The Indonesian military (TNI) will host a joint exercise participated by international troops of the United Nations Peace Keeping Forces, TNI spokesperson Sagom Tamboen said here.

    Tamboen said that troops from 24 countries will join the exercise, dubbed as Garuda Shield 2009 and scheduled from June 16 to 29 in Indonesian Army's Infantry Training Center, West Java.

    "It will be held in two stages that comprised of command post and field exercises. Each of them will be joined by troops from 14 countries and 10 countries respectively. In total 338 troops will take part in the joint military exercise," the Antara news agency quoted Thursday Tamboen as saying.

  

UN won't rule out peacekeepers for Somalia

ADDIS ABABA, Ethiopia (AP) — The U.N. Security Council has not ruled out the idea of a U.N. peacekeeping force for Somalia, a top envoy said Saturday after meeting with African Union officials to discuss problems in Somalia and Sudan.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has come out against such a force, but the fierce fighting that has ravaged Mogadishu, the Somali capital, in the last few days appeared to weigh on the diplomats' minds.

"The question of a United Nations peacekeeping mission remains on the table," Britain's U.N. Ambassador John Sawers told journalists after hours of talks in Addis Ababa. Sawers is leading the 15-nation U.N. Security Council on its eight-day African trip, which will take envoys to Rwanda, Liberia and Congo, where instability in the eastern part of that country has been a source of tension between Congo and its neighbor Rwanda...

Security Council deplores renewed incursions in eastern Chad

(UN News Service) 8 May 2009 – The Security Council today condemned the renewed military incursions in eastern Chad, where the United Nations says ongoing clashes are hindering efforts to assist hundreds of thousands of civilians taking refuge in the area.

In a statement read by Ambassador Vitaly Churkin of Russia, which holds the Council’s rotating presidency for May, the 15-member body spoke out against the incursions “of Chadian armed groups, coming from outside.”

The Council stressed that any attempt at destabilizing Chad by force is “unacceptable” and demanded that rebel armed groups cease violence immediately.

In addition, it voiced deep concern at the direct threat posed by the activity of armed groups for the safety of civilians and humanitarian operations in the area.

In an earlier meeting, Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Dmitry Titov reported that the UN Mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (MINURCAT) was able to confirm that the Chadian National Army was conducting air strikes against a rebel column in eastern Chad, in the area of Goz Beida.

While no significant population displacements have been reported as a result of the fighting so far, the clashes have “seriously compromised” the ability of UN agencies and their non-governmental organization (NGO) partners to deliver humanitarian assistance, he said...

AU/UN Officials Report Humanitarian Progress in Darfur

VOA by Peter Heinlein Addis Ababa 06 April 2009

A senior official of the hybrid African Union-United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur says progress is being made in filling the gap left by Sudan's expulsion of 13 humanitarian aid agencies. The war crimes indictments handed down against Sudan's President, Omar al-Bashir, have not led to a deterioration of security in Darfur.

Rodolphe Adada, the joint A.U./U.N. Special Representative for Darfur says Sudan's decision to expel more than 10 percent of the aid agencies in Darfur has complicated the work of the hybrid peacekeeping force known as UNAMID. "It is like a threat. You cannot be doing just your normal business in front of many hungry and angry people," he said.

Adada says hungry Darfurians do not want to hear that UNAMID's mandate is strictly peacekeeping and not aid distribution...

CzechRep presents EU's stance on UN peacekeeping operations

(CeskeNoviny.ce) New York - The EU fully backs the U.N. in the field of peacekeeping operations but it also points out the need for their effectiveness and good preparation, the EU said in a statement, drafted by the Czech Republic as the EU presiding country, at the U.N. Security Council meeting on Friday.

The EU's statement was presented by Petr Kaiser, Czech deputy ambassador to the U.N.

The council launched a long-term discussion on the future of peacekeeping operations.

Kaiser said that any time before peacekeeping units are deployed, clear goals of the mission should be set beforehand and it should also be specified what steps would follow after the goals are fulfilled and the operation ends, so that the international community can monitor progress and fill gaps where needed.

"U.N. peacekeeping capacities should be deployed only when there is no other viable option and only for the shortest time necessary. Peacekeeping is costly and rebuilding peaceful and sustainable societies after an armed conflict requires a lot of resources. Every effort the international community undertakes in order to prevent conflicts is therefore worthwhile," Kaiser said on the EU behalf.

He recalled that the EU actively participates in U.N. peacekeeping missions and contributes over 40 percent to the U.N. peacekeeping budget, which has increased five times over the last ten years and is currently bigger than the regular budget.

UN troops to replace EU force in Chad, Central African Republic

UNITED NATIONS (AFP) — The UN Security Council voted unanimously Wednesday to deploy 5,200 UN troops to take over from the European Union mission in Chad and the Central African Republic (EUFOR) in mid-March.

Resolution 1861 also decided to extend for one year until March 15, 2010 the mandate of the UN mission in the Central African Republic and Chad (MINURCAT) to ensure the security and protection of civilians in the two countries.

UN Security Council Takes Step Toward Peacekeeping Force in Somalia

VOA By Margaret Besheer

The U.N. Security Council has unanimously adopted a resolution paving the way for establishing a U.N. peacekeeping force in Somalia, but delayed any decision for six months so it can assess the situation in the country.

Resolution 1863 renews for another six months the mandate of the 2,000 troops from the African Union's AMISOM force and establishes the Security Council's intention to replace them with a U.N. peacekeeping operation. The council says it will decide by June 1 of this year.

UN Security Council renews MONUC mandate

(Deutsche Welle) The United Nations Security Council has renewed the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force in the Democratic Republic of Congo. The French-drafted resolution extends the MONUC mission for a period of one year, and authorises it to act independently against rebel armed groups threatening civilians or humanitarian and UN personnel. Recent fighting between government troops and rebel forces led by renegade General Laurent Nkunda has displaced more than a quarter of a million people in North Kivu province in the east of the DRC. Around 6,000 MONUC's 22,000 troops are deployed in North Kivu. The UN mission has been widely criticised for its inability to stop the latest fighting, which broke out last August.   

United Nations doubles Afghan aid budget

KABUL (AFP) — The United Nations said Wednesday it will double the budget of its Afghan mission next year, taking on hundreds of new staff and opening more offices to meet more "complex" challenges.

For 2009 its budget will be 150-160 million dollars, up from 81 million dollars in 2008.

"(The 2009 budget) will be, in fact, double our current budget, and allow us to raise the number of our personnel from 1,500 to 2,000," said Kai Eide, the UN secretary general's special representative for Afghanistan...

UN says Darfur conflict shows no sign of ending

By EDITH M. LEDERER

UNITED NATIONS (AP) — As the conflict in Darfur enters its sixth year, there is still widespread violence in the region, no sign of a political settlement and millions of civilians living in camps on lifesaving international aid, the U.N.'s peacekeeping chief said Friday.

Alain Le Roy told the U.N. Security Council that the joint African Union-United Nations force that took over peacekeeping in Darfur almost a year ago "has been much too slow in providing real improvements for the ordinary citizens on the ground and inadequate in resolving the Darfur crisis."

He said the U.N. must accelerate deployment of the 26,000-strong force, but stressed that "the fundamental responsibility for making real progress" lies with the government of Sudan and rebel groups which must stop fighting and start talking under U.N. mediator Djibrill Bassole...

U.S. Will Push U.N. for Somalia Mission

By Colum Lynch, Washington Post Staff Writer, Sunday, December 14, 2008; Page A26

UNITED NATIONS -- The Bush administration will mount a last-ditch push this week to muster international backing for a relatively small U.N. peacekeeping mission in Somalia, in an effort to help stem piracy and prevent the resurgence of Islamist militants in the lawless East African nation, according to State Department officials.

The initiative -- which Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice will raise at a high-level United Nations meeting on piracy here Tuesday -- comes as the U.S.-backed Ethiopian military is preparing to withdraw its forces from Somalia at the end of the month, raising concerns that Islamist militants may seize control of Mogadishu for the second time in less than three years...

Cyprus: Security Council extends mandate of UN peacekeeping mission

(UN News Centre) 12 December 2008 –

The Security Council today extended the mandate of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in Cyprus (UNFICYP) by six months, welcoming September’s historic launch of talks between the leaders of the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities aimed at reunifying the Mediterranean island.

The Council voted unanimously to keep the mission, which has been in operation since 1964 after the eruption of intercommunal violence between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot communities, in place through 15 June 2009.

EU divided on sending troops to Congo

BRUSSELS, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- European Union officials are divided over sending peacekeepers to the eastern Congo to help back U.N. peacekeepers.

The European Union's top foreign policy official, Javier Solana, will meet U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon in New York Monday, The Sunday Times of London reported.

The peacekeepers are working to stop atrocities being committed in the eastern part of the Democratic Republic of Congo.

At their meeting last week, European leaders declined to send a peacekeeping force and humanitarian aid to the former Belgian colony.

Belgian Foreign Minister Karel de Gucht made a plea to his European colleagues to send an armed European Union force to North Kivu in eastern Congo. Only Sweden and Spain supported the initiative. Other nations said the 17,000-strong U.N. mission already on the ground was sufficient.

AU Pleads for UN Intervention for Somalia

(VOA) By Peter Heinlein, Addis Ababa, 10 December 2008

Africa's top peace and security official is to begin urgent talks on Thursday at the United Nations in an attempt to save Somalia's fragile U.N.-backed administration from collapse. The pending withdrawal of Ethiopian troops from Somalia is focusing the attention of the international community and Somalia's fractious political leadership on avoiding a descent into chaos.

African Union Peace and Security Commissioner Ramtane Lamamra is on a mission to try to persuade the U.N. Security Council to urgently dispatch a peacekeeping mission to Somalia.

The world body withdrew a previous mission in 1995, and Security Council ambassadors have since declined several requests to return the peacekeepers, saying there is no peace to keep in the lawless Horn of Africa nation...

New U.N. Congo troops may take half year to deploy: Ban

By Louis Charbonneau
Reuters
Friday, December 5, 2008; 8:47 PM

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - It may take up to half a year for the United Nations to deploy 3,000 new peacekeepers in eastern Congo, which is why it would help to have a bridging force from the European Union, the U.N. chief said on Friday.

"Practically speaking, it would take a long time -- the best scenario would be at least four months for United Nations additional peacekeeping forces who could be deployed," U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told reporters.

"It would take four to six months," he added.

UN agrees to send 3,100 more peacekeepers to Congo

By TODD PITMAN
GOMA, Congo (AP) — The U.N. Security Council agreed Thursday to send 3,100 more peacekeeping troops to Congo, while rebels said they remained committed to a pullback from the front lines despite an army attack.

There are currently 17,000 peacekeepers in the vast Central African nation — the world's largest U.N. peacekeeping mission — but they have been unable to stop the fighting.

UN Chief Says DRC Fighting is Spreading

By Derek Kilner (VOA), Nairobi, 07 November 2008

A regional summit on the conflict in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is under way in Nairobi. United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon called for an end to the fighting and warned that the conflict risked spilling over into the wider sub-region. Derek Kilner has more from Nairobi.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon joined heads of state from east and central Africa, as well as American and European diplomats, for a summit aimed at putting a halt to the recent fighting in eastern DRC between rebels led by Laurent Nkunda, and Congolese government forces. Mr. Ban called on leaders in the region to put pressure on Nkunda, who has launched a renewed offensive in August, despite signing an agreement with the government in January.

UN Peacekeeping Missions Overwhelmed

(UN News Service) The bitter reality of conflicts in many countries dwarfs the ability of United Nations peacekeeping efforts to halt warring factions and maintain security despite their best intentions, General Assembly President Miguel D’Escoto said today.

Each of the 20 UN missions around the world, with more than 110,000 personnel collectively, faces a task of unprecedented scale and complexity with inadequate resources, Mr. D’Escoto told the General Assembly at a meeting commemorating the 60th anniversary of UN peacekeeping operations.

NATO warships ready to tackle piracy off Somalia

BRUSSELS, October 24, 2008 (AFP) - NATO warships are in place off the Somali coast to tackle rampant piracy in the waters, and are ready to escort UN aid vessels under threat, a spokesman for the alliance's naval command said Friday.

 

"The boats are in the area. They have started their deterrent role," a spokesman at NATO's naval command in Naples, Italy said by telephone, adding that the three vessels "would escort UN ships on request".

 

The ships -- an Italian destroyer and British and Greek frigates which form NATO's operation Allied Provider -- "may use force" under their rules of engagement and in line with international law, a statement said.

 

They will help escort UN World Food Programme (WFP) food shipments, whose cargo is a tempting target for pirates, until the European Union can launch its own operation, probably in December.

Serbia ‘seeks deal’ over EU Kosovo mission

BalkanInsight.com

Serbia’s President Boris Tadic says a compromise with Brussels is possible over the deployment of the European Union’s new law-and-order mission to Kosovo. Tadic said Belgrade wants to find a compromise to the deployment of the 2200-strong European Union mission to Kosovo, known as EULEX, but with the blessing of the United Nations Security Council.

AU Chair Meets UN Peacekeeping Chief

African Union (Addis Ababa) PRESS RELEASE

The Chairperson of the Commission of the African Union, Mr. Jean Ping, on Monday 13 October 2008, received in audience, Mr. Alain Le Roy, the UN Under- Secretary General for Peacekeeping Operations. The meeting provided an opportunity for the two to exchange views on South Sudan, Darfur and Somalia issues.

With regard to South Sudan, the Chairperson of the AU Commission and the UN Under-Secretary General for peacekeeping Operations agreed that the Government of Sudan and the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) should take all the necessary steps to fully implement the Comprehensive Peace Agreement (CPA). In this regard, they urged all the parties to the CPA to do their utmost to address the outstanding issues and ensure the successful implementation of the CPA, in both letter and spirit, in order to promote a lasting peace in the Sudan.

Concerning Darfur the two noted that the Government of Sudan is willing to cooperate with the United Nations and the African Union for the full deployment of the UNAMID force. They expressed their determination to keep working together for the deployment, in the coming months of at least 80% of the authorized force.

UN Reports 'Major Interventions' in DRC Fighting

VOA News (11 September 2008)-
The United Nations says its peacekeepers have intervened this week to stop rebels in the eastern Democratic Republic of Congo from advancing on local towns.

In a statement issued Thursday, the U.N. mission in the DRC says its forces stopped fighters of renegade General Laurent Nkunda from moving toward three different localities on Tuesday. It identified the towns as Kirotche and Kanyabayonga in North Kivu province and Minova in South Kivu province.

New UN-African Union mediator for Darfur conflict takes up post

UN News Service, 28 August 2008 – The newly appointed chief of the joint United Nations-African Union effort to bring peace to Darfur arrived today in the conflict-wracked Sudanese region, pledging to consult as widely as possible with the warring parties to try to find a lasting solution.

Djibril Yipènè Bassolé, the Joint Chief Mediator for Darfur, has assumed his duties in El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state and the headquarters of the hybrid UN-AU peacekeeping force (known as UNAMID).

Speaking to reporters after his arrival, he stressed that any negotiations to resolve the five-year conflict that has killed an estimated 300,000 people and displaced 2.7 million others cannot take place in a climate of tension and mistrust.

Missions at the ‘outer limits’ of peacekeeping

(Financial Times) By Harvey Morris at the United Nations

Published: July 24 2008 01:27

The head of United Nations peacekeeping has urged the Security Council to satisfy itself there is a peace to keep before sending troops on further large-scale missions such as the one in Darfur.

“I would say very bluntly that there are good reasons to be hesitant,” said Jean-Marie Guehenno, who leaves his post this month after eight years in which the number of UN peacekeepers worldwide – and the cost of deploying them – have almost trebled.

 

Russia, Serbia Oppose UN Chief's Plan to Diminish UN's Kosovo Presence

By Margaret Besheer (VOA)
United Nations
20 June 2008

Divisions within the U.N. Security Council on the subject of Kosovo were apparent yet again on Friday, when the secretary-general spoke about his plan to transfer some responsibilities from the U.N. mission in Pristina to the European Union. Serbia, and its powerful ally Russia, have rejected the U.N. chief's plan, but the United States, Britain and France support it. From United Nation's headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told the Security Council that following Kosovo's declaration of independence from Serbia in February and the entry into force last Sunday of its constitution, the U.N. mission's ability to operate there has come into serious question. The mission is known by its acronym UNMIK.

UN Continues Struggle With Peacekeeping in Darfur

By Derek Kilner (VOA)
Nairobi
10 June 2008

The U.N. Security Council is confronting growing concern about the credibility of its peace mission in the western Sudan's Darfur region. As Derek Kilner reports from VOA's East Africa bureau in Nairobi, more than half the force has yet to be deployed, and the security situation has not improved much.

It has been nearly six months since the U.N. peacekeeping mission (UNAMID) replaced an African Union force seen as undermanned and under-resourced in Darfur.

Italian diplomat to take over U.N. Kosovo mission

By Matt Robinson

PRISTINA (Reuters) - The United Nations is expected to name Italian diplomat Lamberto Zannier this week as the new head of its Kosovo mission, a senior U.N. official said on Tuesday.

Zannier takes over from German diplomat Joachim Ruecker as part of a planned "reconfiguration" of the mission after Kosovo Albanians declared independence from Serbia in February and won recognition from major Western powers. Russia opposes secession.

"The appointment should be made this week," a senior U.N. official told Reuters on condition of anonymity. "The planned arrival is on Friday."

Zannier is a career diplomat and former director of the OSCE's Conflict Prevention Centre in Vienna.

U.N. council pushes Sudan on south, Darfur

KHARTOUM, June 4 (Reuters) - U.N. Security Council envoys pressed Sudan's government on Wednesday to avert a return to civil war with the south and over the separate conflict in its western Darfur region.

Khartoum accused an international prosecutor of wrecking the peace process for Darfur.

UN Marks 60 Years of International Peacekeeping Operations

(VOA) By Margaret Besheer
United Nations
29 May 2008

A wreath was layed at U.N. headquarters Thursday to mark the 60th anniversary of its peacekeeping operations. The world body has more than 100,000 troops from more than 120 countries working to keep the peace in 20 conflict zones. From United Nation's headquarters in New York, VOA's Margaret Besheer has more.

U.N. peacekeeping operations began in 1948 with the deployment of unarmed U.N. military observers in the Middle East to monitor the truce between Israel and its Arab neighbors.

Since that first mission, peacekeepers wearing the distinctive blue helmet of the United Nations have conducted 63 other missions.

UN Opens Thai Staging Base for Burma Relief

By VOA News 24 May 2008

The United Nations opened a staging area at an airport in Thailand's capital Saturday to deliver relief aid to cyclone survivors in neighboring Burma.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon was on hand to open the hub at Bangkok's Don Mueang airport just one day after meeting with Burma's junta about relief efforts.

On Friday, Mr. Ban said Burma's top leader agreed to allow all foreign aid workers into the country to help with relief efforts. Burma's military government had refused to allow most foreign aid workers to enter the country and stage a full scale relief effort.

Group of Eight nations and UN seek to harmonize counter-terrorism efforts

17 April 2008 – The senior United Nations counter-terrorism official is in Tokyo today for a meeting to discuss how the world body and the Group of Eight (G8) industrialized nations can better coordinate their efforts on the issue.

Mike Smith, Executive Director of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee Executive Directorate (CTED), is conferring with the G8’s Counter-Terrorism Action Group (CTAG) on how the two bodies can improve their technical assistance in this field, UN spokesperson Michele Montas told reporters.

Established in 2003, CTAG aims to boost political will and promote the implementation of Security Council resolution 1373, which was adopted in the wake of the September 2001 attacks on the United States. It also calls on countries to adopt measures to enhance their ability to counter terrorist activities nationally, regionally and globally.

CTED was created as a special political mission in 2004 to assist the Council’s Counter-Terrorism Committee in monitoring 1373’s implementation.

Serbia plans to hold elections in Kosovo despite UN objections

The Associated Press (April 14, 2008)

BELGRADE, Serbia: Serbia plans to hold local elections in Kosovo in May, according to a government decree published Monday, defying U.N. objections.

U.N. officials in Kosovo have told Serbia it cannot hold the vote because it would breach the U.N. mandate for Kosovo, which declared independence from Serbia in February.

"The Problem with Peacekeeping"

April 2008
François Grignon and Daniela Kroslak in Current History (ICG)

After a decade of dramatic failures in the 1990s—in Somalia, Rwanda, and Sierra Leone—peacekeeping operations are coming back into fashion as a primary international tool for protecting civilians in Africa. The United Nations and the African Union (AU), sometimes supported by the European Union, are increasing the number of peacekeepers on the continent this year, with new missions in, among other places, Sudan’s Darfur region, Chad, the Central African Republic, and Somalia. Four other peacekeeping missions were already in place before this latest surge of operations—in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Liberia, Ivory Coast, and Sudan. This expanded activity is a direct result of the UN Security Council’s finally accepting the need to challenge state authority and explicitly mandate peacekeeping missions to protect civilians under imminent threat. This should be good news, right?

Russian envoy criticizes U.N. chief over Kosovo

By Louis Charbonneau

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Russia's U.N. envoy said on Monday that Moscow was not fully satisfied with U.N. chief Ban Ki-moon's stance on Kosovo but dismissed reports that his country had threatened to block Ban's re-election.

Ambassador Vitaly Churkin was asked by reporters if Moscow was happy with the actions and statements of the U.N. secretary-general regarding Kosovo, which was a Serbian province until it declared independence in February.

"No, we are not entirely happy," he said. "But we think that ... the secretary-general is subjected to all sorts of influences and has to take into account positions of various actors in this situation."

Ban has been cautious to avoid any public statements that could be interpreted as supporting either side in the dispute over Kosovo.

UN, AU Envoys Say Chad-Sudan Relations Holding Up Darfur Peace Deal

By VOA News
08 April 2008
United Nations and African Union envoys say hostilities between Chad and Sudan are standing in the way of a potential peace deal in Darfur.

Speaking to reporters in Khartoum Tuesday, U.N. envoy Jan Eliasson said it is impossible to separate violence between the two countries from the violence in Darfur.

Peacekeeping in Darfur Hits More Obstacles

By LYDIA POLGREEN (New York Times)

ABU SUROUJ, Sudan — As Darfur smolders in the aftermath of a new government offensive, a long-sought peacekeeping force, expected to be the world’s largest, is in danger of failing even as it begins its mission because of bureaucratic delays, stonewalling by Sudan’s government and reluctance from troop-contributing countries to send peacekeeping forces into an active conflict.

The force, a joint mission of the African Union and the United Nations, officially took over from an overstretched and exhausted African Union force in Darfur on Jan. 1. It now has just over 9,000 of an expected 26,000 soldiers and police officers and will not fully deploy until the end of the year, United Nations officials said.

UN police to return to conflict-hit N. Kosovo city

BELGRADE, March 19 (RIA Novosti) - United Nations police will return to Mitrovica in north Kosovo on Wednesday, a day after a Ukrainian peacekeeper died following a clash with rioters, a UN spokesman said.

The violence in the Serb-dominated area of Mitrovica began when UN police and NATO-led KFOR troops launched an operation on Monday morning to regain control of a UN court building seized last week by ethnic Serbs.

Alexander Ivanko, a spokesman for the UN mission in Kosovo (UNMIK), said the situation is now under control, and that UNMIK police forces are ready to return after Monday's withdrawal. KFOR forces have remained in the city.

Sharpening of Afghan U.N. mandate urged

UNITED NATIONS, March 13 (UPI) -- A top U.N. official says the ruthlessness of the insurgency in Afghanistan requires a refocused approach from the U.N. Security Council.

U.N. Undersecretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Jean-Marie Guehenno is calling on the U.N. Security Council to sharpen the focus of the mandate for the U.N. mission in Afghanistan in an effort to address what he says is a more resilient than expected insurgency, the United Nations reported.

Guehenno cited the drug trade in Afghanistan that is thriving. Officials believe the opium production in the country largely goes to fund an insurgency that is "more ruthless than we ever imagined," Guehenno said in a statement.

Serbia Calls for UN to Keep Administering Kosovo

By Margaret Besheer (VOA)
United Nations
11 March 2008

Serbia's foreign minister says the responsibilities of the U.N. mission in Kosovo must not be transferred to any other organization, such as the European Union. He also told the U.N. Security Council Tuesday that Belgrade would not accept Kosovo's unilateral declaration of independence and urged countries that have recognized the breakaway province to reconsider their decision.

Serbian Foreign Minister Vuk Jeremic told the Security Council that resolution 1,244, which placed Kosovo under U.N. administration in 1999, must be respected. He also insisted that there be no change to the mandate of the U.N. mission in Kosovo, known as UNMIK.

"Resolution 1,244 must be observed in full. This is the only way to prevent a further deterioration of the situation on the ground. There must be no erosion of UNMIK's clearly defined mandate by the Security Council. Therefore, we strongly demand that no further transfer of competencies from UNMIK to any other body take place," he said.

U.N. tells Serbia to quit interfering in Kosovo

By Matt Robinson

PRISTINA (Reuters) - U.N. authorities in Kosovo told Serbia on Wednesday to stop interfering in Serb areas of the new state, where a Serb boycott has fuelled speculation Belgrade is trying to partition the territory.

The U.N. mission called on Serbia to respect its mandate in the former Serbian province, where the 90-percent Albanian majority declared independence with Western-backing last month.

It said Serbia should cooperate in re-establishing customs points on Kosovo's northern border, which were burned down by Serb mobs, allow Serb police officers to return to work and stop strengthening Belgrade-financed "parallel structures" in health, education, courts and administration.

"If Belgrade says publicly that (U.N. Security Council Resolution) 1244 should be respected, we expect them to put their money where their mouth is," U.N. mission spokesman Alexander Ivanko told a news conference.

"We are trying to re-establish the courts, we are trying to re-establish the customs," he said. "This will take time, it will not happen tomorrow."

UN council renews authority for AU force in Somalia

By Patrick Worsnip

UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council renewed authority on Wednesday for a small African Union peace force in Somalia and agreed to debate next month the thorny issue of whether U.N. peacekeepers should go there.

A council resolution extended for six months U.N. endorsement of the AU mission in the lawless country, which currently consists of two Ugandan battalions, totaling some 1,600 troops, and an advance party of 192 Burundians.

East Timor Extends Emergency Rule

By GUIDO GOULART 

DILI, East Timor (AP) — East Timor's Parliament on Friday extended by 30 days a state of emergency imposed after attacks by suspected rebels on the country's two top leaders.

The state of emergency, which bans rallies and imposes a nighttime curfew, was due to end Saturday.

Operation begins in East Timor

DILI, East Timor (AP) -- Australian troops backed by helicopters hunted Thursday for suspects in the attacks on East Timor's top leaders, as new details emerged on the strike that left the president critically wounded.

The operation, which also involved U.N. police officers and armored personnel carriers, took place on the outskirts of Dili and involved troops combing through the jungle searching for suspects, according to an Associated Press reporter at the scene.

U.N. spokesman Alison Cooper confirmed "anti-insurgency" operations had begun.

Ashdown to be UN envoy to Afghanistan

Claire Truscott and agencies, Wednesday January 16, 2008, Guardian Unlimited

The former leader of the Liberal Democrats, Paddy Ashdown, has agreed to become the United Nations' envoy to Afghanistan, a source close to negotiations on the post said today.

"Yes, he has accepted the job," the source told the Reuters news agency, speaking of an agreement between Ashdown, 66, and the UN secretary general, Ban Ki-moon.

Sudan admits attacking UN/AU Darfur peacekeepers

Thu Jan 10, 2008 By Andrew Heavens

KHARTOUM (Reuters) - Sudan admitted on Thursday that its troops had opened fire on a joint U.N./African Union peacekeeping convoy in Darfur, contradicting an earlier denial by its ambassador to the United Nations.

A spokesman for the Sudanese armed forces said the attack was the result of a "shared mistake".

Pressure mounts on Sudan over Darfur force

LISBON (AFP) — The pressure was ratcheted up Saturday on Sudan for the deployment of a UN-led peacekeeping force to Darfur as EU leaders met President Omar al-Beshir on the sidelines of an ongoing summit here.

After the head of the African Union commission and UN chief Ban ki-Moon's deputy called for the immediate dispatch of the hybrid UN-AU force, French President Nicolas Sarkozy and Portuguese Prime Minister Jose Socrates expressed their concerns about delays directly to Beshir in Lisbon.

Joao Gomes Cravinho, Portugal's secretary of state for cooperation and development, described the hour-long meeting as "very frank" in which Europe's concerns were "rigorously conveyed".

Europeans Unlikely to Meet UN Darfur Goal

By CONSTANT BRAND

BRUSSELS, Belgium (AP) — European nations look unlikely to meet an urgent U.N. call to provide military helicopters for a peacekeeping force planned for Darfur, saying their armies are already stretched by missions in Afghanistan, Kosovo and other hot spots.

More than 200,000 people have been killed and 2.5 million uprooted from their homes in Sudan's western Darfur region since a rebellion broke out in 2003, and many European governments have said they support deploying the peacekeeping force.

Despite the verbal support, no one has offered any of the 24 helicopters sought by U.N. officials.

Afghanistan: UN mission to boost dialogue with former insurgents, envoy says

3 December 2007 – The United Nations Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) said today it intends to continue reaching out to a number of groups previously involved in the insurgency that are now seeking to end the violence and participate in rebuilding the fledgling democracy.

Political outreach is one of the Mission’s three priorities over the coming year, along with strengthening the rule of law and integrating the complex and numerous efforts underway in Afghanistan, the Secretary-General’s Deputy Special Representative, Chris Alexander, told a press briefing in Kabul.

Efforts will include engaging with those Afghan individuals and groups who, for one reason or another, have come to feel excluded from the political and development process currently underway in the country, Mr. Alexander noted.

“We also intend to continue reaching out to some groups hitherto involved in the insurgency, who are now seeking ways to end the violence,” he said. The objective is to help them “re-connect with their Government and their society, participate in strengthening institutions and join with us in a concerted effort to consolidate peace.”

Conditions for dialogue with these groups are set by Afghans themselves – the Government, the Parliament and civil society – but clearly, “Those Afghans who show good will, who are willing to live under the current Afghan Constitution, to participate in Afghanistan’s legitimate institutions, and to end their participation in violence – are welcome in this process,” he said.