06 December 2001
UN Security Council Endorses Afghan Agreement
(Council also expects to mandate multinational force, Cunningham says)
(570)
By Judy Aita
Washington File United Nations Correspondent
United Nations -- The Security Council December 6 unanimously endorsed
the agreement reached on interim arrangements for Afghanistan pending
the re-establishment of a permanent government and declared that it is
willing to support a request for a UN-mandated security force.
Acting one day after the agreement was signed in Bonn, the council
also called on all Afghan groups to implement the agreement in full,
cooperate with the interim authority which is to take office on
December 22, and to allow unimpeded access by humanitarian
organizations to people in need.
Secretary General Kofi Annan said the resolution is "a good one. I
like the support it gives to the efforts" of the UN special envoy
Lakhdar Brahimi and his team who mediated the nine days of talks which
resulted in the agreement.
"But the difficult task is ahead," the secretary general said. "We
have many hurdles ahead and we are going to try to do our best and we
expect the Afghan parties to cooperate with us."
"They have a basis for action, a basis to move forward when Mr.
Brahimi is able to go back to Kabul and will be able to sit with the
parties and discuss practical steps for implementation of the
agreement," Annan said.
U.S. Ambassador James Cunningham said that the most important aspect
of the resolution is "the political impulse and endorsement" of the
agreement.
The council also "made clear its expectation that the agreements
reached there should be implemented and set in train further work in
that regard," Cunningham noted. "There are other elements of the
resolution asking for assistance with the humanitarian operation which
we all know is pressing."
Annan said that an essential part of the Bonn agreement is the request
for a multinational force to assist in maintaining security for Kabul
and surrounding areas and then progressively expand to other urban
centers and areas if needed.
In its resolution, the council said that it was willing to take
further action, based on a report by the secretary general, to support
the interim institutions and requests to help implement the agreement.
Cunningham, who is the deputy US permanent representative to the UN,
said that "it will take a little bit of time" for the council to
mandate a multinational force.
"The first thing that has to happen is a number of countries need to
discuss how to meet that request. Then it will be up to the council to
act on that understanding," the ambassador explained. "There are some
discussions that still need to take place outside the council among
countries who are willing and able to fulfill that request."
"Discussions are still at an early stage. It's a difficult undertaking
for countries who are going to do this and they need some time to get
their own thinking in order before the council acts," Cunningham said.
In the resolution, the council also called on bilateral and
multilateral donors to strengthen and implement their commitments to
assist with the rehabilitation, recovery and reconstruction of
Afghanistan in conjunction with the UN and the interim authority as
long as the Afghan groups fulfill their commitments.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
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