ECOWAS calls for change in UNAMSIL’s mandate

The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has asked again that the mandate of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) be changed from peacekeeping to peace enforcement, PANA reported on Saturday. ECOWAS Executive Secretary Lansana Kouyate made the call in Abuja on Friday while receiving a US delegation led by Under-Secretary of State Thomas Pickering. Kouyate also said that the force commander should be a West African officer as requested by the ECOWAS heads of state and government during a May summit, PANA reported. ECOWAS has offered more than 3,000 additional troops to the UNAMSIL force. On Wednesday, UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan had said, following a series of meetings with West African leaders and commanders in Togo, that there was “unanimity” over what was needed to support UNAMSIL. “We were discussing some of the operational difficulties on the ground and the need for us to work as a force that is solid and solidaire and that really works together to implement the mandate,” Annan had told reporters.