Restoring peace: Pakistan proposes Muslim Blue Berets for Afghanistan

Officials say Afghan National Army will not be able to ‘tackle the challenge’.

ISLAMABAD: Pakistan has proposed that a United Nations’ peacekeeping force drawn from ‘neutral Muslim countries’ should take over Aghanistan’s security after US-led Nato forces pull out, The Express Tribune has learnt.

Officials in Islamabad believe that the idea would pave the way for conditions under which all stakeholders in Afghanistan will come to the negotiations table for a political settlement of the nine-year-old war.

The US and its allies are scheduled to begin limited withdrawal from Afghanistan in July and have agreed to a transition plan that seeks handover of all security responsibilities to Afghan forces by 2014.

However, Pakistani officials say the proposed plan is unlikely to succeed as the Afghan National Army, which is being trained by US forces, is incapable of taking over the challenge.

The US is currently training 120,000 troops of the Afghan National Army. Pakistani officials also believe the army does not proportionately represent ethnicities.

“Leaving security in their [Afghan National Army] hands would lead to more chaos,” a security official said on condition of anonymity. “Managing the security of Afghanistan is not a joke … the young and inexperienced Afghan forces cannot take on this responsibility at this stage.”

He said that Pakistan is of the view that there should be a gradual transition in Afghanistan. “We have proposed a UN peacekeeping force taken from neutral Muslim countries to take over security in Afghanistan,” the official said.

Among probable countries, he listed Malaysia, Indonesia and Bangladesh whose forces could be part of the proposed UN mission in Afghanistan as these states did not have any direct stake in the war-torn country.

Veteran Pakistani diplomat Rustam Shah Mohmand, who is part of the backdoor efforts to seek peace with the Taliban, endorses the idea.

“I think all stakeholders including the Taliban won’t object to the Muslim peace-keeping force,” said Mohmand, who has also served in Kabul as Pakistan’s ambassador.

He said that a final political settlement in Afghanistan was not possible under the US-led Nato forces. “The presence of a Muslim UN force will create the right conditions for a political solution to the Afghan problem,” he said.

Mohmand, who is also a member of the Pak-Afghan tribal council or Loya Jirga, urged the Obama administration to embrace the proposed plan, as the current Afghan strategy will not take the battle anywhere.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2011.