The New York Times

Thursday, September 20, 2000

India Withdrawing Troops in Africa

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

UNITED NATIONS (AP) -- In a surprise move, India said Wednesday it plans to withdraw its contingent from the 13,000-member U.N. peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone, dealing another blow to the embattled mission trying to help restore peace after eight years of civil war.

The announcement left the United Nations scrambling to find replacements for the Indians, whose 3,000-strong contingent was the second-largest in the mission after Nigeria's. It also appeared sure to delay even further the plans for beefing up the force to 20,500 personnel to counter rebel attacks and exert government authority throughout the war-ravaged West African country.

India's U.N. Mission said the move was ``part of a routine rotation'' and aimed ``to give other member states a chance to participate.''

A spokesman denied the removal was connected to recent criticisms of the Indian role and a dispute between the Indian force commander and his Nigerian subordinates.

The head of the Nigerian army had called for Maj.-Gen. Vijay Jetley to resign after he reportedly accused Nigerian officers of undermining the U.N. mission and profiting from Sierra Leone's diamond deposits in a memo published by two newspapers.

The Indian announcement came after the Security Council extended the U.N. mission in Sierra Leone until Dec. 31 to give the United Nations more time to round up troops for the planned increase in the force size.

U.N. spokesman Fred Eckhard said that, after being informed of the Indian decision, Secretary-General Kofi Annan was already in contact with several potential troop contributors to replace them.

``The performance of all Indian officers has been outstanding,'' Eckhard said in a statement.

India is coordinating the timetable of the withdrawal to allow the world body ``to find suitable replacements,'' the Indian mission spokesman said.

The council had planned to vote Wednesday on a British-sponsored resolution to beef up the current mission to 20,500 troops.

But without firm offers for the additional 7,500 troops, the council agreed to a U.N. request to put off a vote until Annan consults with more potential troop contributors. With the departure of the Indians, he must now find over 10,500 troops.

The U.N. mission in Sierra Leone has been plagued with problems since its inception, most seriously the May seizure of 500 peacekeepers by rebels from the Revolutionary United Front. A subsequent investigation found that troops were poorly trained and equipped and didn't understand their mandate.

The Indian Mission's spokesman said India has been in Sierra Leone for over two years, starting with a medical unit in July 1998 in the former U.N. observer mission, and with UNAMSIL since its inception last year.

``We have reiterated our commitment to U.N. peacekeeping, and offered the services of our forces in any other U.N. mission where we may be needed,'' the spokesman said.

Western diplomats, caught by surprise by the Indian announcement, said they believed the decision was based at least in part on the government's feeling that the Sierra Leone burden needed to be spread among other countries. India has 3,059 personnel in Sierra Leone, nearly as many as Nigeria's 3,100 troops.

Jordan, which has the third largest contingent at about 1,800 has made similar complaints in recent days, calling for NATO and other industrialized countries to send in troops, western diplomats said.

The mission itself has changed dramatically since India signed on, with the rebels flouting the 1999 peace agreement the peacekeepers were dispatched to monitor.

India is also said to be smarting from general criticism of the mission and the force commander, even from Annan himself, following the hostage-taking incidents.

The Washington Post and Britain's Guardian newspaper reported that during the May hostage crisis, Jetley wrote a memo accusing Nigerian officers in the peacekeeping mission and the West African peacekeeping force that preceded it of undermining the peace operation and trafficking in diamonds.

Nigerian army commander, Lt. Gen. Victor Malu, said no Nigerian soldiers or officers had ever been found with diamonds, or been engaged in diamond mining.