Global Policy Forum

By Colum Lynch

Afghanistan's incoming interim leader has assured Washington, London and other European capitals that his government will allow British-led peacekeepers to use force if necessary to protect U.N. personnel and members of the country's transitional government, according to U.S. and European officials.

Hamid Karzai overruled a previous order by his acting foreign minister, who uses the sole name Abdullah, to restrict the authority of international peacekeepers to use deadly force.

The pledge has opened the way for the deployment of the British-led force as early as Saturday, officials said.

The dispute within the new Afghan government underscored the ongoing tensions among its rival factions. Abdullah, a leader of the Northern Alliance forces that control Kabul, the capital, insisted Friday in a letter to the U.N. Security Council that Afghanistan would authorize the deployment of foreign peacekeepers in Afghanistan under Chapter 6 of the U.N. Charter, which permits the use of force only in self-defense.

But key Security Council members have reached agreement in principle on a resolution authorizing the British-led force under a tougher, so-called Chapter 7 mandate to "take all necessary measures," including the use of force, to fulfill its mission.

Karzai, a Pashtun tribal leader who commands no forces in Kabul, assured U.S. and British officials this week that Abdullah had acted on his own authority. And Karzai promised that his government would send a letter to the Security Council this week inviting international peacekeepers into Kabul under a Chapter 7 mandate.

British defense officials said in London today that about 200 British marines -- the first of as many as 1,500 British troops that may be sent in to secure Kabul -- were expected to deploy by Saturday, when Karzai's government is scheduled to assume power. France, Germany, Italy, Canada, Australia, Jordan, Malaysia and Turkey have expressed interest in participating in the force, which could grow to about 5,000 troops.

A senior U.S. official predicted that the Security Council initially would approve a six-month stay in Kabul for the British-led force, and said that period later could be extended.

A draft resolution obtained by The Washington Post said that the costs of the mission will be borne by participating countries. It also calls on U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan to establish a trust fund to underwrite the costs for poor countries eager to serve in the force.

However, representatives from the Security Council's five veto-wielding countries -- the United States, Russia, Britain, France and China -- have yet to resolve a dispute over the scope of the mission.

France favors inserting language that spells out two specific tasks for the international force: protecting Afghanistan's new government and U.N. personnel in Kabul over the next three months. The United States and Britain want the council to approve a broader, more vague mandate that would provide international peacekeepers with the flexibility to adjust or expand their mission as required by events on the ground.

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