From: barnhart@ddsw1.MCS.COM (Mr. Aaron Barnhart)
Subject: IPS:SOMALIA: U.S. expecting large U.N. force to replace its troops
Date: Thu, 31 Dec 1992 13:59:22 GMT
Organization: Evanston, Illinois, U.S.A.

Copyright Inter Press Service 1992, all rights reserved.  Permission to re-
print within 7 days of original date only with permission from 'newsdesk'.

Reference: Africa, east; United Nations
Title: SOMALIA: U.S. expecting large U.N. force to replace its troops


washington, dec 17 (ips/jim lobe) -- senior u.s. officials said
here thursday they expect a large and ''heavily armed'' u.n.
peacekeeping force to replace the 28,000 u.s. troops expected to
take part in 'operation restore hope' in somalia.

while the u.n. operations in somalia (unosom) force need not be
as large as the u.s. deployment, assistant secretary of state for
african affairs herman cohen told a congressional panel, ''it must
be much bigger than the original 3,500 (troops) that was
envisaged'' before 'operation restore hope'.

and, he said, ''it's not going to be a traditional u.n.
peacekeeping force -- lightly armed with very, very passive rules
of engagement.

''we expect it to be heavily armed with very robust rules of
engagement''. cohen added that consultations at the united nations
made him ''relatively confident this will be achieved''.

cohen also said washington expects to pay about 500 million
dollars to finance its own involvement in the operation over the
first two months and will not seek, as was previously reported, to
deduct its share from the 410 million dollars it owes the united
nations as its contribution to peacekeeping operations.

other countries involved in the first of what he called a two-
phase plan will have to finance their own participation, although
the united nations is setting up a special fund for poor countries
wishing to take part in the initial phase. cohen said 18 nations
have offered to send forces to participate alongside u.s. troops
or as part of unosom replacement forces.

already, he said, u.s. forces in somalia have been joined by
contingents totalling about 1,500 troops from france, saudia
arabia, belgium, italy, canada and botswana, the first african
country to take part.  pakistani troops, who arrived as the first
unosom contingent earlier this fall, are also present.

in the next few weeks, troops from zimbabwe, turkey, jordan,
and australia are expected to arrive, and german chancellor helmut
kohl announced thursday that he hopes to send 1,500 troops soon in
the first german deployment outside the north atlantic zone since
world war ii.

cohen's remarks were the first wide-ranging discussion here of
u.s. and u.n. plans in somalia since president george bush ordered
u.s. marines ashore in mogadishu almost two weeks ago. and he shed
new light on what has been criticised as a murky mission,
particularly regarding the respective responsibilities of u.s. and
u.n. forces. (more/ips)

somalia: u.s. expecting large u.n. force to replace its troops(2)

somalia: u.s. expecting (2)

as described by cohen and other u.s. officials, the entire
mission will consist of two overlapping stages.

the first, spearheaded by u.s. troops and authorised by the
u.n. security council earlier this month, will secure key points
and infrastructure around the southern part of the country so that
relief supplies can be safely delivered to the needy. cohen
referred to it as peacemaking.

the second, unosom phase will be charged with peacekeeping and
will include helping with political arrangements that will
facilitate disarmament and the rebuilding of the country and its
government, according to cohen.

u.s. troops will not participate in this phase, he said,
although washington will leave a task force off the somali coast
to deal with any contingencies or emergencies beyond unosom's
capabilities. in addition, the united states will underwrite 30
percent of unosom's cost as part of its share of u.n. peacekeeping
obligations, according to cohen.

''although we cannot give you any firm timetable, we are
confident that the transition (between the two operations) can be
accomplished fairly rapidly,'' he said.  a senior pentagon
official, who testified with cohen, said washington is sticking to
its earlier predictions that u.s. troops should begin their
withdrawal ''in two to three months''.

while u.s. troops will confiscate any arms they find as they
secure key areas, ''they're not going out to look for arms,'' said
cohen, who insisted that a disarmament process must be linked
''with political reconciliation among the armed groups.''

this week, u.n. secretary-general boutros boutros-ghali said
disarmament was a ''prerequisite'' for the peacekeeping phase, but
cohen said insisted thursday that the differences between the u.n.
chief and the united states were not significant.

he later told a briefing for foreign journalists here that the
unosom phase should begin ''right now'', with u.n. forces moving
in behind the u.s. and other foreign troops as they extend their
control.

but, he went on, the unosom forces should be ''sufficiently
strong and armed to deter any groups'' from challenging them in
the way the 500-man pakistani force was kept pinned down at the
mogadishu airport earlier this fall.

as u.n.-backed negotiations get underway, the presence of a
strong unosom force should also encourage armed factions to
cooperate because they ''should have no fear'' that their enemies
might attack them, cohen said, adding that the meeting between the
two leading warlords in mogadishu shortly after the arrival of the
marines was a positive first step. (more/ips)

somalia: u.s. expecting large u.n. force to replace its troops(3-e)

somalia: u.s. expecting (3)

the two men, gen. mohammed farah aideed and mohammed ali mahdi,
reached a ceasefire agreement which also called for their
cantoning their forces and storing their heavy weapons in
identifiable locations.

cohen admitted, however, that those terms had not yet been
implemented. the two leaders reportedly met again thursday, and
cohen said washington and its allies were pressing them to carry
out the agreement. he also said washington will not withdraw its
troops ''unilaterally'' without consulting with boutros-ghali.

cohen also denied that 'operation restore hope' could serve as
a precedent for operations in other countries. he said the
situation in somalia was unique due to the absence of a
government, the ''great urgency'' of the situation created by an
alarming rise in the death rate, and the logistical needs for
''water, food, tenting'' which only u.s. forces could provide
quickly. (end/ips/jl/yjc/92)
Newsgroups: soc.culture.african