UN grants another one-month extension to peacekeeping force

The United Nations Security Council has again extended the mission of peacekeepers in Cote d'Ivoire by just one month, giving it more time to discuss a request for troop reinforcements by Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The 10,000-strong peacekeeping force in the world's top cocoa producer had its mandate renewed until 4 June, after the 15-nation council on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution drafted by former colonial power France.

Diplomats told IRIN ahead of the vote that another one month extension would give the UN more time to consider reinforcing troops and to look at putting a monitoring system in place for presidential elections, due to be held on 30 October.

At the end of last year, after a wave of riots in the de facto capital Abidjan, Annan said that the UN Mission in Cote d'Ivoire (ONUCI) was seriously overstretched and asked for attack helicopters and an extra 1,226 peacekeepers to be deployed.

The UN chief repeated his demand in March, but observers say the United States is opposing the reinforcements for budgetary reasons.

Earlier this week, the New York-based rights group, Human Rights Watch, added its voice to the chorus of people calling on the Security Council to urgently dispatch more troops to Cote d'Ivoire.

The West African nation has been split into a government-run south and a rebel-held north since a failed coup attempt triggered civil war almost three years ago.

While most UN missions get extended for six months or a year, Wednesday's renewal of ONUCI's mandate was the second one-month extension in as many months.

In April, the Security Council renewed the ONUCI mandate for 30 days to give South African mediators more time to revive a flagging January 2003 peace deal.

Shortly afterwards, Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo sat down with rebel leader Guillaume Soro for the first time in nine months in Pretoria. Under the auspices of international mediator and South African President Thabo Mbeki, the two sides agreed an immediate and definitive end to hostilities and that they would disarm.

They also agreed to hold elections and invited the UN to help organise polls. UN officials have said privately that that is another reason why ONUCI's mandate needs to be substantially increased.

Three weeks after the Pretoria summit, another stumbling block to peace was removed when Gbagbo bowed to international and rebel pressure and agreed to let his main rival, Alassane Ouattara, run against him in the October election. The Security Council praised his decision on Wednesday.