01 November 2002
U.S. To Provide ECOWAS With Peacekeeping Support in Cote d'Ivoire
(Defense official cites aircraft, fuel and equipment worth $2 million)
(660)
By Jim Fisher-Thompson
Washington File Staff Writer
Washington -- Troops from the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS), soon to deploy as peacekeepers in Cote d'Ivoire, will
receive much needed airlift assistance as well as other logistical
support from the United States in order to achieve their mission, says
a Defense Department official.
U.S. Army Colonel Victor Nelson, regional director for West Africa in
the Defense Department's Office of International Security Affairs
(ISA), spoke by phone to the Washington File from his office in the
Pentagon on October 31. He said, "we have worked up a plan, in
cooperation with the State Department, to aid the soon-to-be deployed
ECOWAS force tasked with creating a buffer zone between rebel and
government forces" in Cote d'Ivoire.
The Officer said, "The ECOWAS force is expected to be approximately
2,000 troops and will act as a buffer between Government and rebel
troops. They should be prepared for deployment in a few weeks."
The total value of the U.S. military assistance, which Nelson said
should last from six months to a year, is worth $2 million.
President Laurent Gbagbo's government signed a ceasefire with rebels a
month after disgruntled former and current military personnel launched
a nation-wide attack on September 19. Peace talks are currently taking
place between the two sides in Lome, Togo under the auspices of ECOWAS
heads of state.
Col. Nelson said the United States first became involved in the
current crisis when "we supported the non-combatant evacuation of
American citizens from rebel-held areas. That was successfully
concluded in great cooperation with our French allies who took the
opportunity to evacuate French citizens and other third-country
nationals from those same areas."
Asked which ECOWAS states would furnish troops for the Cote d'Ivoire
peacekeeping force, Nelson said "the final troop list is being worked
out now and it is likely to have elements from Senegal, Ghana, Mali,
Togo, Guinea-Bissau and potentially Nigeria." Nigeria's military was
recently preoccupied with a peacekeeping mission in Sierra Leone where
it fielded a number of battalions in conjunction with troops from
Senegal and Ghana. The U.S. Defense Department helped train the
Nigerian troops last year in an effort called "Operation Focus
Relief."
Nelson, who served as U.S. Military Attache to Nigeria for three
years, added, "Since Cote d'Ivoire is a Francophone country, it makes
sense that a preponderance of the offered force speak French."
Asked about the U.S. assistance, Nelson said the airlift offer would
be limited to one IL-76, a Russian-made military aircraft, working for
a Defense Department approved contractor. According to the Internet,
the four-engine jet transport can fly more than 4,000 kilometers
carrying a 47-ton cargo or more than 300 troops.
The Army officer said, "Logistical support will come in the form of
providing expendable supplies -- food and fuel -- as well as equipment
from the U.S.-run ECOWAS depot in Sierra Leone. This can include
communications gear, power-generating equipment and vehicles."
Nelson added, "The French are also providing equipment that we will
probably airlift in from their RECAMP [French military assistance
program] depots in Senegal, Gabon and Djibouti."
Asked about the Gbagbo Government, Nelson said, "U.S. policy is to
support the elected government. At the same time we push dialogue over
fighting as a means of solving this crisis. Acting together the U.S.,
France and ECOWAS have convinced the Government and rebels to accept a
ceasefire and continue to discuss the situation."
The day of the interview with Nelson a Reuters report noted that
former South African private security operators had arrived in Cote
d'Ivoire presumably to help the Gbagbo government counter the
rebellion. While the Government neither confirmed nor denied that they
had arrived in the West African nation, an advisor to the government
said, "We have the right to buy arms where we like and enlist the help
of who we like."
Commenting on the report, Col. Nelson said, "our aim and that of
ECOWAS is to get the parties together to resolve the crisis peacefully
during the ceasefire. If South Africans have showed up" to intervene
in the conflict, "that is regrettable.
(The Washington File is a product of the Office of International
Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site:
http://usinfo.state.gov)
|
NEWSLETTER
|
|
Join the GlobalSecurity.org mailing list
|
|
|
