Britain to continue peacekeeping role

Posted 9:11AM on Sunday 24th March 2002 ( 23 years ago )

LONDON - Britain will extend its leadership of the international peacekeeping force in Afghanistan beyond next month, when it had planned to hand off its responsibilities, Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Sunday. Straw told the British Broadcasting Corp. that Britain could not yet be certain that Turkey, the international community's top choice to take over the mission's leadership, was prepared to do so. ``We said we'd be there for a matter of months, as a lead authority it's going to be extended for a little while, but again in the long march of history this is a limited operation,'' Straw told the BBC. Britain had initially said it would lead the 18-nation peacekeeping force, now 4,500 troops strong, for three months ending in March. But officials said more recently that they hoped to hand over the leadership role to Turkey in mid-April. Britain has been careful to place limits on its participation in the messy peacekeeping operation, and has, along with the United States, resisted pleas from interim Afghan leader Hamid Karzai to extend the force's presence beyond the capital, Kabul. Straw said that while Turkey, NATO's only predominantly Muslim member, hoped to take over the force, plans were not yet firm. ``You can't be absolutely certain, you never can in this life, until things are absolutely pinned down,'' he said. ``But I've been involved myself in a lot of discussions with the Turkish government. ... They are anxious to do it if the conditions are right.'' ``If you are asking me 'Would I put money on them doing it,' yes, I would. Am I absolutely certain they will until they've ... signed on the dotted line? No.'' Straw said Turkey was concerned about its economic problems and about getting compensation for the costs of running the Afghan operation, which it was discussing with the United States. A Ministry of Defense spokeswoman declined to elaborate on the extension. ``We are obviously committed to the operation in Afghanistan and we are still in discussions with the Turks about taking over the leadership,'' she said on customary condition of anonymity. U.S. Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld said last week that the security force's mandate should be extended past June, its original expiration date, toward the end of the year. He said there were no enthusiastic countries waiting to take over leadership from Britain. Britain announced plans last week to deploy an infantry battle group of 1,700 in Afghanistan, to assist in operations against al-Qaida and the Taliban. That will bring Britain's total troop presence in Afghanistan to 6,100, including 1,600 members of the peacekeeping force. Straw said the combat troops' goal was to destroy al-Qaida's ability to carry out terror attacks, but added that he did not believe the mission would be an extended one.

http://accesswdun.com/article/2002/3/202723