BOSNIA: Training for the military police unit due to replace the Defence Forces' contingent serving with the Sfor (Stability Force) multinational force in Sarajevo will continue while talks on the renewal of its UN mandate continue.
A spokesman for the Defence Forces yesterday said the unit, which provided military policing for the Sfor headquarters in Sarajevo, would remain in place. Training for its replacement will continue at the Curragh. It is due to travel to Sarajevo on July 23rd.
Both the presence of the unit in Sarajevo and the unit training in the Curragh will be reviewed on July 15th, the date set by the UN Security Council as the deadline for the renewal of the mandate.
The Security Council is attempting to overcome the threat by the United States to withdraw from the mission in Bosnia Herzegovina until it receives immunity for the actions of its troops from prosecution by the International Criminal Court in The Hague. The Irish contingent is the only unit in the 18,000-strong multi-national peacekeeping force in former Yugoslavia affected by the dispute.
All the NATO and the other non-NATO forces will be kept in place whatever the outcome of the talks between the Security Council and the US State Department.
The Defence Forces contingent is in Sarajevo only because there is a UN mission. The State's position on neutrality precludes it from service on any foreign military mission other than those mandated by the UN. The withdrawal of the Irish contingent is unlikely to cause any serious disruption to Sfor operations.
AFP adds: Bosnia has called on the US and other UN members to find a solution to the dispute, saying it does not want its security compromised in the international row over the powers of the war crimes court.
The appeal from the prime minister, Mr Dragan Mikerevic, came after the UN Security Council extended its deadline on the mandate renewal. "It is up to the international community now to find a solution that would be the best for Bosnia-Herzegovina . . . and to avoid a discontinuity in the presence of international forces," Mr Mikerevic told a news conference.
"We appeal on the United States and other member countries of the UN Security Council to not jeopardise the reform process in Bosnia while addressing major international problems," he said. "Bosnia should not pay the price for the current row."