December 21, 2001	Friday	Shawwal 5, 1422

UNITED NATIONS, Dec 20: The UN Security Council on Thursday endorsed the creation of a British-led multinational force to ensure security in Kabul.

The force, laid out in an historic agreement reached earlier this month in Bonn by rival Afghan factions, has a mandate to maintain security in and around the Afghan capital for six months to assure proper functioning of Afghanistan’s interim government, set to take power Saturday.

The vote took place in time to allow an advance party of 100 British Royal Marines to be sent in time for the takeover.

The rest of the force, set to be between 3,000 and 5,000 men, would “assist the Afghan Interim Authority in the maintenance of security in Kabul and its surrounding areas, so that the Afghan Interim Authority as well as the personnel of the United Nations can operate in a secure environment,” according to the resolution.

Britain, which will lead the force for the first three months, is to provide the largest contribution of about 1,000 to 1,500 troops. Other European countries also have offered troops, and NATO ally Turkey has proposed to take over the force for the second three months, diplomats said.

British Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said in a letter to UN chief Kofi Annan that the international peacekeeping force for Afghanistan could be placed under US command at some point “for reasons of effectiveness.” Straw described the chains of command for the force, to be deployed later this month in the central Asian nation, in a letter to the UN secretary general.—AFP