THE MIDDLE EAST: Such a move has been suggested as a means of easing tension, writes Deaglán de Bréadún, from New York
Ireland has informed the UN and the US government of its willingness to take part in a possible international observer mission in the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. While no such mission has yet been established, it has been widely suggested as a means of easing tension in the Middle East.
The cabinet decided at a meeting last week to authorise the Minister for Defence, Mr Smith, to indicate Ireland's willingness to join an international monitoring mission, subject to the usual requirements of the Defence Acts.
The Government was responding to a memo on the subject, submitted by the Minister for Foreign Affairs, Mr Cowen, with the agreement of Mr Smith, which recommended the move.
The UN Secretariat has been informed of the decision, along with the US, as the country which would be likely to play the central role in such a mission. Government sources explained that the reason for taking the decision in principle at this early stage was to save time "in case something needed to be done quickly - we are clearing the ground for rapid movement".
If a monitoring group were established, presumably to oversee a ceasefire agreement, the Irish contribution would probably be a relatively small Army contingent. Irish military personnel have long experience in the region and are currently involved in a number of other UN missions.
Whereas Ireland has supported the idea of a monitoring mission, the Secretary-General, Mr Kofi Annan, has recently spoken of the possible need for a much larger and more robust peacemaking force. Mr Annan is due to brief the Security Council today or tomorrow about his suggestion. Mr Annan's spokesman, Mr Fred Eckhard, said yesterday, "He is just presenting a concept to them and we will have to see how they respond to it." However, an observer mission is still not ruled out. As Mr Eckhard told The Irish Times: "This is really a decision now for governments to make, because what he has proposed is a multinational force, not a UN force, so if governments are going to respond, they are going to have to put together this force, and a lead nation is going to have to emerge, and all the rest. Should those same governments decide that a force is not necessary and observers will do, well then, that is the direction we will go. But we are waiting now to see the reaction from governments."
Meanwhile, the main UN human rights body yesterday condemned what it claimed were "mass killings" during Israel's incursion into the West Bank.
The text of the resolution "strongly condemns the war launched by the Israeli army against Palestinian towns and camps, which has resulted so far in the death of hundreds of Palestinian civilians, including women and children." At its annual session in Geneva, the UN Human Rights Commission voted by 40 votes to five, with seven abstentions, to express its "grave concern" over the 17-day-old Israeli incursion which it said included "acts of mass killings perpetrated by the Israeli occupying authorities against the Palestinian people". Of the nine EU countries that are members of the commission, six - Austria, Belgium, France, Portugal, Spain and Sweden - voted in favour. Germany and Britain voted against and Italy abstained.
The UN High Commissioner for Human Rights, Mrs Mary Robinson, was still waiting early yesterday for Israeli approval for a Middle East fact-finding mission.
Mrs Robinson steps down as commissioner in September and generous tribute was paid to her yesterday by Mr Annan. Addressing the human rights body's annual session in Geneva, Mr Annan said: "Over the past five years, the United Nations has gained immensely from the presence of Mary Robinson as High Commissioner. She has brought to the office not only the great prestige she had earned in her earlier career, but also - and more important - an unflagging and fearless determination to uphold the cause of human rights throughout the world.