DATE=11/12/1999
TYPE=EDITORIAL
TITLE=EDITORIAL: AFRICAN CRISIS RESPONSE
NUMBER=0-08528
CONTENT=
THIS IS THE FIRST OF TWO EDITORIALS BEING
RELEASED FOR BROADCAST 11/13/99.
Anncr: The Voice of America presents differing
points of view on a wide variety of issues. Next,
an editorial expressing the policies of the United
States Government:
Voice: Multinational cooperation on African
peacekeeping issues recently received important
support. Even as Mali prepared to send some of
its soldiers to help maintain the peace in war-
torn Sierra Leone, United States Secretary of
State Madeleine Albright announced in Nairobi that
Kenyan President Daniel arap Moi [ah-rahp moy was
inclined to support a training program for
peacekeeping operations.
Originally proposed by President Bill Clinton in
1996, the African Crisis Response Initiative
already involves Senegal, Mali, Ghana, Benin,
Malawi, Uganda and Cote d'Ivoire. These countries
have agreed to provide units capable of
intervening rapidly in crisis situations. They are
being trained and equipped in a program that
complements other international initiatives taken
by Britain, France, and Belgium.
The idea is to provide troops, not to intervene in
conflicts, but to help maintain order after
negotiations end the fighting. Indeed, this is
the task of the Malian battalion preparing for
duty in Sierra Leone. It will police the peace
agreement which the U.-S. helped broker earlier
this year between President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah
[Ah-MAHD Tay-jin KAH-bah] and rebel forces. This
will take some of the pressure off the Nigerian-
led West African forces that helped end the
fighting in Sierra Leone, at considerable strain
to Nigeria's budget.
The ability of African states to call upon
neighbors for help in maintaining the peace will
contribute to a sense of collective security
without which the rule of law will always be under
threat. Along with regional initiatives for
economic and diplomatic cooperation, cooperation
in security affairs could signal a determination
by Africans to sustain the uneven momentum toward
reform which has characterized the continent in
recent years.
Anncr: That was an editorial expressing the
policies of the United States Government. If you
have a comment, please write to Editorials, V-O-A,
Washington, D-C, 20547, U-S-A. You may also
comment at www-dot-voa-dot-gov-slash-editorials,
or fax us at (202) 619-1043.
12-Nov-1999 12:50 PM EDT (12-Nov-1999 1750 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
.
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