By Serge Schmemann and Warren Hoge
New York TimesDecember 20, 2001
The United Nations Security Council today authorized an international force to help keep the peace in Afghanistan, with Britain leading the troops and the United States prepared to move in if an emergency arises.
The 15-member council voted unanimously after an advance group of 53 British Royal Marines arrived in Afghanistan today, with some 250 British soldiers to be deployed around Kabul, the capital, by Saturday. Afghanistan's new interim government, with Hamid Karzai as prime minister, is to be sworn in on Saturday."This is an important day for Afghanistan," the British ambassador to the United Nations, Sir Jeremy Greenstock, said after the resolution was adopted. He said it showed that the United Nations was moving "quickly and in concrete terms to provide a future for Afghanistan."
The United States envoy, John D. Negroponte, added that the unanimous vote marked a new demonstration of the Security Council's ability to act in concert on matters affecting peace and security.
A British military officer in Afghanistan said the Royal Marines' mission would begin on Friday when, together with Afghan security forces, they would accompany V.I.P.'s arriving for the ceremony from the Bagram airbase to Kabul.
The United Nations resolution says the force, which could reach 5,000 troops, is to maintain security in an around Kabul "so that the Afghan Interim Authority as well as the personnel of the United Nations can operate in a secure environment."
Britain will contribute 1,500 soldiers, and 21 countries - Canada, France, Germany, Turkey, Indonesia and Jordan among them - have expressed interest in making up the balance.
The multinational troops are expected to guard government buildings, and Britain said it would also help Afghans train security and military forces.
While Britain will lead day-to-day operations, the United States military will be in overall charge of coordination and would help rescue the new troops in an emergency.
A draft of the United Nations resolution said the "International Security Assistance Force" would be established for six months to maintain security in and around Kabul "so that the Afghan Interim Authority as well as the personnel of the United Nations can operate in a secure environment."
The British decision to lead the contingent had been expected since Afghan factions agreed on Dec. 14 at United Nations-brokered talks in Bonn to form an interim administration. But the announcement was delayed by London's efforts to pin down details of the operation, especially coordination with the American campaign against the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
In a letter to Secretary General Kofi Annan formally announcing Britain's readiness to lead the force, the foreign secretary, Jack Straw, also declared that the United States would have the ultimate authority over the force to ensure that its activities "do not interfere with the successful completion of Operation Enduring Freedom," which is the code name of the pursuit of the Taliban and Al Qaeda.
That clarification was sought by both the United States and Britain to avoid any interference in the continuing American military campaign. But it became a sticking point when Germany, declaring that it was willing to provide 1,000 to 1,500 troops, insisted they not be under United States command.
Perhaps to assuage the Germans, whose deployment needs approval by Parliament, Mr. Straw also said that Britain would "exercise command" over the international force, and that its mission would be distinct from the American operation.
It remained unclear today whether this resolves the dispute with Germany.
Another potential problem was the public resistance of the Northern Alliance to an active role for the international force. The interior minister of the interim government, Yunis Qanooni, who is widely regarded as a moderate, said in an interview yesterday that the force should not exceed 1,000 combat soldiers in a total force of no more than 3,000, that it should be restricted to Kabul and that it could employ force only at the Afghan government's request.
"Their main job would be keeping themselves secure," Mr. Qanooni said. "If the state needs them, at that time they will help us."
Western diplomats at the United Nations, however, viewed that statement as a face-saving tactic. Mr. Qanooni also said allied soldiers currently stationed in the city would withdraw to military bases.
The interim government's minister of foreign affairs, Dr. Abdullah Abdullah, had similarly indicated to the United Nations last week that the foreign troops would be acceptable only as a peacekeeping force, authorized to use force only in self-defense.
But in a letter to the Security Council yesterday, Dr. Abdullah said that "taking into account all relevant considerations," the international force could be deployed under Chapter 7 of the United Nations Charter, which authorizes it to use force. The Security Council draft specifically invokes Chapter 7 as its authority.
In fact the British, and the United Nations, have made it clear that the powers and composition of the force would be settled with the Afghan authorities before full deployment.
The Security Council resolution calls on the force to work "in close consultation" with the interim government, and Mr. Straw said its tasks would include finding ways of helping the Afghans train security forces.
Mr. Straw also said in his letter that Britain would lead the force only until April 30. But diplomats at the United Nations said that if the force functioned well, the British could remain longer.
Representatives of the 21 countries that have offered to take part in the force held their second meeting in London yesterday. "We do not lack for volunteers," said one British defense official.
The purpose of the meeting, he said, was to whittle down the number of potential donors and to balance their contributions. "Everyone was offering infantry so we said, `Please come back and think about some of the more complicated tasks,' " the official said.
The British defense secretary, Geoff Hoon, told Parliament yesterday that the force would be led by Maj. Gen. John McColl, who conducted a reconnaissance mission to Kabul last weekend. Mr. Hoon said the United States would be offering "essential enabling support to deploy and sustain the force, a vital and considerable task."
A defense official said the British mission would be one of patrol, and while soldiers would be prepared and outfitted to react with force if threatened, their principal equipment would be wheeled vehicles and small arms.
"The vast majority of forces there are friendly and they invited us in," he observed.
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