U.N. Force OKd for Ivory Coast
The U.N. Security Council on Friday unanimously approved deployment of more than 6,000 U.N. peacekeepers to Ivory Coast and demanded that the government and rebels meet all requirements of a peace deal so presidential elections could be held in 2005.
The United States will not contribute any troops, but congressional approval is required because Washington pays 27% of U.N. peacekeeping costs.
Last month, France circulated a draft resolution calling for a 6,240-member U.N. force and 150 civilian police to replace the 1,000 West African troops and 150 police in the former French colony.
The U.N. force will be established April 4 for an initial period of one year. The West African peacekeeping force of 1,000 in Ivory Coast will become part of the U.N. force at that time. About 4,000 French troops will remain in the country but will not be part of the U.N. force.
Ivory Coast for decades was West Africa’s most stable and prosperous country, but a 1999 coup ushered in political, regional, ethnic and religious tensions and violence.
The country has been split between rebel north and government south since a rebellion erupted in September 2002 after a failed coup.
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