UN staff being evacuated as sanctions loom

Nearly 400 UN staff are to be evacuated from Cote d’Ivoire by the weekend as consensus mounts within the UN Security Council on slapping sanctions against Ivorian leaders seen as whipping up violence and blocking peace efforts, diplomatic sources said on Friday. African leaders generally have approved the idea of targeted sanctions against such individuals, although South Africa, a key mediator in the Ivorian peace process, has expressed some reticence, a diplomat said. The sanctions committee is to meet on Monday morning, a UN source said. Meanwhile almost 400 of the some 2,000 staff working for the UN and UN humanitarian agencies in Cote d’Ivoire are being temporarily relocated to Banjul, Gambia and Dakar, Senegal, with departures through Saturday, a diplomatic source said. In New York, UN special envoy for Cote d’Ivoire Pierre Schori told reporters late on Thursday that the evacuations were “a temporary measure.” “We have been under attack,” he said, referring to the anti-UN riots last week that saw the country’s economic capital Abidjan grind to a standstill for four days as youths loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo, known as the Young Patriots, went on the rampage demanding that 10,000 UN and French peacekeepers quit the country. UN compounds came under assault, hundreds of blue helmets were forced to retreat, and vehicles, offices and food stocks and humanitarian supplies were torched and looted. Humanitarian aid to thousands of refugees and displaced people has been sharply cut back in the volatile western region. Asked whether the UN was pulling staff in fear of new trouble if sanctions were slapped on the ringleaders, Schori said: “Given the vitriolic messages we heard on radio and in the media we fear that the next few days are not going to improve.” The Swedish diplomat, who said remaining staff and military personnel were busy reinforcing positions, reiterated a plea for extra troops, more police trained in anti-riot techniques and added equipment. “We only have three armoured vehicles in all of Abidjan,” he said. Commenting on the proposal to impose sanctions on leaders responsible for the unrest, Schori said those responsible could not be allowed to go scot-free. “I don’t want this to happen again and I want those who are behind this to be punished,” he said. “We had an outrageous situation here. We’ve had our headquarters under siege for four days. This is totally unacceptable.” The UN Security Council this week extended until 15 December 2006 the mandate of the UN peacekeeping force brought in to maintain peace and help steer the war-divided country towards disarmament and elections. But the council stopped short of meeting UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s request for some 4,000 extra troops. Currently, the UN Mission in Cote d’Ivoire (UNOCI) has up to 7,090 troops and 725 police. The blue helmets work with a 4,000-strong force of French peacekeepers. UN sources said an agreement on bringing in extra troops, possibly from other West African trouble spots, remained a possibility.