THE United Nations (UN) Security Council is to begin talks on the possibility of raising a peacekeeping force for Mali, an idea it had been uncomfortable with before France’s recent military intervention, envoys said on Wednesday.
Last month, the 15-nation Council approved an African-led force for Mali that likely would have been funded with voluntary contributions from UN member states and trained by the European Union (EU).
That force would not have begun operations until late this year against Islamist militants, who seized a vast region of Northern Mali since last year.
However, France’s military intervention, which began on January 11 rendered that plan moot, diplomats said.
“There is increasing talk of moving straight to a UN peacekeeping operation,” a senior Western diplomat said on the condition of anonymity.
Another diplomat and a UN official confirmed the development. The official said the discussions would begin within days.
United States (U.S.) Ambassador to the UN Susan Rice, had hinted of that possibility last week at a Security Council meeting.
Other Council members are now warming to the idea, the diplomats and UN officials said.
Deployment of a UN peacekeeping force would require the approval of the Security Council.
Another option would be to send an African Union (AU) force mandated by the council with logistical and other support from the UN, similar to the AU’s Somalia mission.
Washington favours a UN mission rather than an AU force, diplomats said.
Details would have to be worked out but one idea that floated was for a UN peacekeeping force of some 3,000 to 5,000 troops, the diplomats said.
They, however, noted that since the three-week-old conflict has not ended, it will be too early to deploy peacekeepers.
“There’s no peace to keep yet. We’re still in the peace-enforcement phase,” said another diplomat.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon had been uncomfortable with direct UN involvement in the proposed African-led operation, diplomats said. The UN top official felt such intervention would have been an offensive combat mission and not peacekeeping.
But now that the French-backed Malian army has reclaimed most of the cities, the possibility of deploying UN peacekeepers has become less remote, the envoys said.
They said a UN peacekeeping force would offer certain advantages over the African-led force approved by the Council last month.
“Funding would be clear, it would be easier to monitor human rights compliance and the UN could choose which national contingents to use in the force,” they said.
Many of the African troops that are already in Mali supporting the French and Malian forces, could theoretically remain and become part of a UN peacekeeping force, one diplomat said.
It is an idea France would likely support.
Prime Minister Jean-Marc Ayrault said on Tuesday that Paris would favour a quick deployment of international monitors to Mali to ensure human rights are not abused.
