Editorial
UN move for Liberia laudable
But lacunae abound
After weeks of hard work, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has managed to get the Security Council to approve a resolution to send multinational forces in Liberia. The resolution was passed with 12-0 votes on Saturday. The regional forces will include troops from Nigeria (1,500), Ghana, Senegal and Mali (each 250). The vanguard element will arrive in Monrovia on Monday. It, however, remained undecided whether US forces now cruising over the Liberian shores would join the regional forces. Or, the US forces will wait for the passing of another resolution in the Security Council authorising multinational peacekeepers. Outwardly, the US is a party to the conflict, and so are some of the regional members of the Economic Council of West African States (ECOWAS) whose troops are moving as the vanguard of the regional force. Another major irritation is the indictment of Charles Taylor as a war crime accused. It will be difficult for him to enjoy a safe haven out of his country from August 11, something Taylor himself promised on Saturday to other regional leaders. The power vacuum is likely to be filled in constitutionally-- either by the vice president or the speaker of the parliament, both of whom are known as Taylor loyalists. Due to Taylor's siding with the US (and the guarantee of US protection to him), the rebel LURD (Liberian United for Reconciliation and Democracy) forces are unlikely to agree with the power transfer formula as well as with the US troops' involvement in the conflict. Hence, one might reasonably expect more trouble in Liberia in the coming days and weeks. The US had seized the initiative to sponsor the latest UN resolution mandating the dispatch of regional forces in the war-torn nation. The initiative paid off the US by inserting a 'special clause' in the resolution that exempted US troops from prosecution by the International Criminal Court (ICC). Despite an instant protest from France, Germany and Mexico who decided to abstain from voting due to the special clause's insertion, the US is likely to face the same opposition again as the Security Council adopts another resolution soon; mandating dispatch of multinational peacekeepers in Liberia as a long term goal to pull the tormented nation from the brink. Given that the US had earlier refused to sign and ratify the international agreement empowering the constitution of the International Criminal Court, one wonders whether it has the moral and legal authority to be an integral part of a multinational peacekeeping force without being a signatory to the ICC?
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