Liberia

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6 000 troops for UN force
New York - Bangladesh and Namibia pledged more than 6 000 troops for the UN peacekeeping force that will replace the multinational force now deploying in war-battered Liberia, UN officials and diplomats said.

Jacques Paul Klein, the new UN special envoy to Liberia who made the appeal on Thursday to diplomats from dozens of countries, called for a robust UN force of between 12 000 and 15 000 troops to help stabilise the country, demobilise combatants and provide security so democratic elections can be held for a new government.

The UN Security Council has authorised a two-month deployment for the multinational force to help end fighting between forces loyal to President Charles Taylor and rebels trying to oust him - and to provide security once Taylor leaves.

Taylor submitted his resignation on Thursday and tapped vice-president Moses Blah as the first West African peacekeepers arrived in the capital, Monrovia. The handover is planned for Monday, but rebels have warned they won't allow a Taylor ally to hold power.

The Security Council ordered the multinational contingent to be replaced by a UN peacekeeping force no later than October 1.

No standing army

But the proposal given to potential troop-contributing nations at Thursday's closed-door meeting calls for UN peacekeepers to start deploying on November 1, according to a copy of the document obtained by The Associated Press.

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said after Friday's vote that the United Nations would "do our best" to meet the October 1 deadline, but diplomats said Klein called the date unrealistic.

The world body has no standing army and relies on troop contributions from its 191 member states, and normally it takes four to six months to assemble a UN force.

The UN peacekeeping department invited 93 potential troop-contributing nations to Thursday's meeting and there was a large turnout.

"It was good...I praised all of them for prior contributions ...and asked them to be as liberal and as generous with the mission in Liberia," Klein said as he left the meeting. "We obviously need some mechanised infantry...engineers, communications, hospitals."

Liberia 'the key to West Africa'

Bangladesh later pledged about 4 800 troops in two brigades - each with three 800-strong battalions - and Namibia offered two fully equipped battalions with a total of about 1 600 troops, UN officials and diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity.

India, Pakistan, Ireland and South Africa may also provide troops for the UN force, they said.

A vanguard of about 500 Nigerian soldiers from the multinational force arrived in Liberia this week. West African leaders have promised to build up a 3 250-strong force that might include a small US contingent after Taylor leaves.

The UN peacekeeping plan envisions one brigade from the multinational force being "rehatted" as UN peacekeepers on November 1. The entire UN force would be deployed by February 28, 2004.

Klein has described Liberia as "the key to West Africa," and diplomats said he stressed this again on Thursday.

All the "good work" that the British have done in bringing peace to Sierra Leone and the French have done in Ivory Coast "unravels and comes undone unless we stabilise Liberia and bring it back into the family of nations," Klein warned Wednesday.

The UN proposal says the peacekeeping mission's objective "is likely to be along the lines of establishing the conditions under which Liberia is governed by a duly elected democratic government".

"Achieving this objective will require military deployment on a sufficient scale to ensure stability across the country as a whole," it says. The UN force should be able "to support the delivery of humanitarian assistance, disarmament of ex-combatants, establishment of accountable military and security forces, support to the election process, and expansion of government authority throughout Liberia".

"The overall timescale (for the mission) is unlikely to be less than 2-4 years," the UN proposal said.