“We have the right to open fire in the case of self defence or in defence of the mandate,” UN under secretary-general for peacekeeping Alain Le Roy told Reuters in a telephone interview.
“There have already been some attacks on our peacekeepers, and we had to fire back.”
“That’s the mandate for our peacekeepers all over the world,” he added.
It was not clear, however, how the 10 000-strong UN force would react in the event of an outbreak of renewed civil war. UN officials say privately that their troops will not go into battle against one army or another.
Several UN officials told Reuters on condition of anonymity that the UN force in Ivory Coast, known as UNOCI, believes it killed a member of the armed forces loyal to incumbent President Laurent Ggagbo on Saturday who fired on UN troops.
UNOCI is still trying to confirm the death, they said.
UNOCI to remain
After the United Nations said Gbagbo lost a run-off election last month to rival Alassane Ouattara, Ggagbo ordered all blue helmets – the nickname for UN peacekeeping troops – out of the country.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has rejected that demand and said UNOCI would remain.
Ouattara is holed up in a hotel in the main city of Abidjan protected by UNOCI.
Ivory Coast’s pro-Gbagbo Constitutional Council has rejected the U.-certified results that declared Ouattara the winner. It says Gbagbo won the election.
“It is clear that President Gbagbo will try to harass our mission by cutting supplies to the mission,” Le Roy said. “He’s already cutting supplies to the mission, and he’s already harassing the civilians of our mission.”
He reiterated that the United Nations was determined to stick it out in Ivory Coast, the world’s top cocoa producer.
“The security situation is of grave concern, but the determination of the (peacekeeping) mission remains the same,” Le Roy said. “We have a mandate, the mandate was renewed by unanimity. We will fulfil our mandate despite the very delicate and dangerous circumstances.”
The UN Security Council on Monday extended the mandate of UNOCI for another six months.
Source: news24