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Global Policy Forum - UN Secretary General Peacekeepers Should Pack More Punch, Annan Says
June 1, 2000
CNN
Link to the Audio Version With the United Nations set to begin a new peacekeeping mission in Africa and nearly double the size of another in the Middle East, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said Thursday that the world body must reevaluate how it arms its peacekeepers, or risk suffering the kind of setback seen recently in Sierra Leone.
Some 500 U.N. peacekeepers were taken hostage by rebels in Sierra Leone last month -- an embarrassment for the largest current U.N. force, which has been criticized for its poorly trained and ill-equipped soldiers. Annan has sent a delegation to Sierra Leone to find out what went wrong with the mission and to make recommendations on how to improve it.
Future missions, Annan told a gathering of international broadcasters in Atlanta, should be more robust.
"I believe they will need to go in with heavier equipment, not necessarily to do battle, but sometimes you need to show force in order not to use it," Annan said. "You have to have a credible presence so that they don't even dare to challenge you."
Annan's comments, made in a broadcast for the annual CNN World Report conference, came as the United Nations prepared to expand its peacekeeping forces in southern Lebanon on the heels of withdrawing Israeli troops.
Israel, which has occupied at least part of southern Lebanon since 1978, pulled its forces out of the region last week, fulfilling a campaign promise by Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Barak. Annan said Thursday he hoped to certify a complete Israeli withdrawal "within the next few days," paving the way for a boost in the size of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Lebanon from 4,500 to 8,000 troops.
The United Nations is also readying a peacekeeping mission for the Democratic Republic of the Congo, where more than 5,500 troops from 26 countries are expected to monitor a 1999 cease-fire accord between Congolese President Laurent Kabila and rebels backed by neighboring Rwanda, Uganda and Burundi.
The success of those missions and others to follow depends on the commitment of U.N. members, Annan said.
"When it comes to peacekeeping, the U.N. can be there and on time, well-equipped and ready to act, if those member states with capacity -- and which help take the decisions -- would also participate in these operations," Annan said. "Where the will is not there, and the resources are not made available, the U.N. peacekeepers will arrive late."
Annan offers hope for Cyprus
In addition to discussing peacekeeping, Annan fielded questions from reporters dealing with conflicts around the world, including Angola; the border war between Ethiopia and Eritrea; and the dispute between Pakistan and India over the Himalayan border region of Kashmir.
Asked about the progress of talks on Cyprus, Annan voiced optimism that Greek and Turkish Cypriot leaders would begin tackling substantive issues in the next round of indirect negotiations, scheduled to begin July 5 in Geneva.
"I suspect we are getting to the stage where we have to step up the pace and the level of the talks. I'm not implying here that we are going to get face-to-face talks in Geneva next month. But I would hope we would be able to get into substance and begin to discuss some of the key issues and move on."
Cyprus has been divided since 1974, when Turkish troops invaded to prevent the island from being united with Greece. Turkey maintains 35,000 troops on the northern third of Cyprus, which it recognizes as an independent state called the Turkish Republic of Northern Cyprus.
The United Nations has presided over two rounds of negotiations between Turkish Cypriot leader Rauf Denktash and Greek Cypriot President Glafcos Clerides. But Annan warned against expectations of any "quick, easy and speedy solutions."
'A serious moral dilemma'
Annan also addressed the issue of sanctions against Iraq, saying they pose a "serious moral dilemma" for the United Nations. Members of the U.N. Security Council are divided over whether to continue the sanctions, imposed after Iraq's 1990 invasion of Kuwait.
Critics of the sanctions say Iraq cannot buy enough food and medicine for its people, pointing to statistics by UNICEF, which reports the infant mortality rate in the country has doubled since the end of the Gulf War.
Annan said the United Nations should seek means of making sanctions less devastating on the poor and needy.
"I have indicated that we must find some way to break the sanctions cycle," he said. "By sanctions cycle I mean the incredible paradox which sometimes emerges, when sanctions are imposed and the impact or the effect is to strengthen those in power while the average population, who are not the intended target of the sanctions, do suffer."
Annan said the world body should implement sanctions that have a more direct impact on the leaders themselves, such as freezing bank accounts and restricting travel for government officials and their families.
The question of sanctions "poses a serious moral dilemma for the U.N., a U.N. that has always been on the side of the poor and the weak and has always sought to alleviate their suffering," Annan said.
"I would hope that in the not too distant future we would find some creative ways out."
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