December 15, 2001	Saturday	Ramazan 29, 1422

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ISLAMABAD, Dec 14: The United States Committee for Refugees (USCR) on Friday called for inclusion of Muslim troops in the multinational force for Afghanistan and underscored the need for keeping the deployment to the shortest possible time.

“At the moment, lack of security is the single major obstacle to getting food to hundreds of thousands of Afghan civilians on the brink of starvation,” said USCR senior policy analyst, Hiram A. Ruiz.

Supporting the need for a multinational force to protect relief efforts in Afghanistan, the USCR warned that the United Nations, donor countries and humanitarian aid agencies must understand that some level of risk of bloodshed was likely even with a UN protection force on the scene.

There should be no illusions that the operation would be easy or risk-free, the USCR said.

The USCR noted that although the Taliban were largely gone from the scene and some factions had agreed to form a government, Afghanistan remained much like Somalia in the early 1990s, where enclaves ruled by warlords did not want foreigners interfering in their affairs.

Identifying the dangers inherent in deploying a multinational force, the committee said one warlord might interpret the force’s assistance in the distribution of food to another warlord’s civilian followers as a hostile act.

Bandits might not be deterred from trying to loot lucrative food stocks by the presence of foreign guards and there would be many opportunities for things to go wrong, it said.

“If such a multinational force were deployed, the international community must be prepared for attacks on the force and the troops should not be withdrawn from the country at the first sign of violence, as occurred in some UN peacekeeping deployments in other countries during the 1990s.”

Recommending the UN Security Council to take steps to overcome potential problems and improve the UN contingent’s opportunity for success, the USCR said the force should have unambiguous UNSC authorization providing a clear and credible mission.

A significant number of troops from Muslim countries should also be included in the force, it said.

Many Afghans are likely to resent and resist the presence of any foreigners, but might be less hostile toward Muslims, the USCR said.

The committee recommended a clear and agreed chain of command for the multinational force with clear rules of engagement that enabled it to respond immediately and robustly to threats, but which also limited its mandate to providing all necessary measures to deliver humanitarian assistance.

The USCR said it should be ensured that the force did not engage in military interventions in support of particular political factions.

“The rules of engagement should authorize multinational forces not only to protect international humanitarian aid workers and themselves, but also to stop attacks on Afghan civilians if they witness violence directed towards them.”

The USCR said the relief agencies on the ground should be free to decide when and where they needed or did not need armed protection by the UN troops.