Reuters: "New rules of engagement for U.N. troops in Lebanon permit soldiers to shoot in self-defense, use force to protect civilians and resist armed attempts to interfere with their duties, a U.N. document says.
"U.S. President George W. Bush says Lebanon needs an international force "as quickly as possible" to safeguard the ceasefire ... The UN-brokered ceasefire resolution, which kicked in on Aug. 14, ended 34 days of cross-border attacks by Israel and Lebanon-based Hezbollah militants that left more than 1,000 dead." [Full story]
Bloomberg: "Bangladesh, Indonesia, Malaysia and Nepal were among nations that offered thousands of troops to a United Nations peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon as Israel's military transferred control of 50 percent of the region to the UN. "I think we're in business," UN Deputy Secretary-General Mark Malloch Brown said after envoys of almost 50 nations attended a closed meeting of potential troop contributors. The UN wants to deploy about 3,500 troops within two weeks and eventually increase to 15,000 the current force of 2,000."
"The UN is trying to get an advance force of peacekeepers into Lebanon in 10-15 days, a senior official has said. The force would be up to 3,500-strong, to be boosted later to the full 15,000 agreed in the UN ceasefire resolution." [Full story]
Though it will probably not make it onto the network news programs, the Democratic Republic of Congo began polling for its first multiparty elections in nearly 50 years. This was no small feat: Congo is considered among the most hellish places on earth, where the pathologies of sub-Saharan Africa have combined with a uniquely bloody history to claim millions of lives.
BBC News: "The UN has warned the deaths of four of its personnel in southern Lebanon may deter countries from contributing to a future peacekeeping force in the area.
UN deputy chief Mark Malloch-Brown said they accepted Israel's apology for the losses to Israeli fire, but still had "serious concerns" about what happened."
"United Nations Security Council members will on Monday start hammering out a detailed agreement on deploying a multilateral security force to Lebanon, U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan said.
"World powers will next week press Sudan to accept a United Nations peacekeeping mission in Darfur amid reports of increasing violence in the province.
Tens of thousands have been killed and 2.5 million people forced into camps during three years of rape, murder and pillage in Darfur, in lawless western Sudan." [Read more]
"There are few issues on which there is greater consensus, or higher expectations, than on the responsibility of the United Nations to help States and societies recover from the devastation of war," Secretary-General Kofi Annan declared as the Commission's Organizational Committee began its inaugural session.
"The Commission represents a symbol of both hope and perseverance: hope for the many millions of people throughout the world who are striving to keep their societies on the fragile road to peace; and perseverance, because you have overcome considerable difficulties to get this new and vital endeavour up and running."