Key members of the UN Security Council have agreed that a resolution authorizing a multinational force to help provide security in Afghanistan must give the soldiers the right to take military action if necessary, Western diplomats said Tuesday night.
With a tentative agreement among the five permanent council members that the initial authorization will be for six months, diplomats said the text of the resolution could have been circulated to the full 15-member council by late yesterday -- with a possible vote being expected later today.
Britain, which will be leading the force, said Tuesday that up to 200 British marines were expected to be deployed on the streets of Kabul by Saturday, when a 30-member interim government led by Hamid Karzai is scheduled to take power for six months.
Britain's UN Ambassador Jer-emy Greenstock said earlier Tuesday that one of the complicating factors in adopting a resolution was a letter sent to the Security Council on Friday by Afghanistan's acting Foreign Minister Abdullah.
It said the government agreed to a multinational force -- but under provisions that don't explicitly authorize its use of military force.
Western diplomats said the British had talked to Karzai, who apparently wasn't aware of the letter from Abdullah -- who will keep his post in the new administration.
A new letter was expected to arrive, possibly, later yesterday from Abdullah or Karzai -- consenting to the deployment of the multinational force under Chapter VII of the UN Charter, which allows the use of force to deal with threats to peace, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Even without a new letter from the incoming Afghan government, the five permanent council members -- the US, Britain, France, Russia and China -- agreed Tuesday that the resolution must be under Chapter VII, the diplomats said.
France has been pressing for a three-month mandate for the force, but the US, Britain, Russia and China wanted six months. There was tentative agreement on the longer time frame, the diplomats said.
Western diplomats have said the initial force is likely to be about 1,000 troops, a figure mentioned by the incoming Afghan defense minister, but it could grow to about 5,000 troops, depending on what the Afghans and UN special envoy Lakhdar Brahimi recommend.
Brahimi, the UN secretary-general's top representative for Afghanistan, was scheduled to leave New York late Tuesday en route to Kabul for the Dec. 22 installation of the interim government, said UN deputy spokesman Manoel de Almeida e Silva.
Brahimi said he planned to remain in Kabul for several weeks. Under the Dec. 5 agreement, signed by four Afghan factions that established an interim post-Taliban government, Brahimi is asked to monitor and assist in its implementation.
Belgian Foreign Minister Louis Michel announced Friday that the 15 EU members would contribute up to 4,000 European troops to the security force.
Britain expects to provide up to 1,500 troops, and several other nations have indicated a willingness to contribute troops, including Argentina, Australia, Canada, the Czech Republic, Jordan, Malaysia, New Zealand and Turkey.
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