UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - Five key U.N. Security Council members struggled with a resolution on Wednesday that would authorize a multinational force for Afghanistan. But the key stumbling block was how the operation would be coordinated with the U.S. military, diplomats said.
In a race against time, Britain, which will lead the force, is scrambling to get a contingent of troops from mainly NATO nations into Afghanistan by Dec. 22 when the new interim government is to take office.
To this end British Prime Minister Tony Blair is expected to make a formal announcement on Friday, the same day potential troops contributors meet in London. On Friday also Ladkhdar Brahimi, the top U.N. envoy for Afghanistan, briefs the Security Council in New York.
The Security Council resolution, originally expected to be adopted on Friday, may not be voted on until Saturday or the following week until Britain and others are satisfied that arrangements are in place.
The force will not be organized or managed by the United Nations but the world body has to approve it to give the operation international legitimacy.
With the United States conducting a war against remnants of the Taliban and al Qaeda, coordination and control of the new force still needs to be ironed out. Some diplomats also want the Pentagon to help with logistics and send U.S. troops to join the force when combat has subsided.
``The Americans need to be clear about their relationship with the force,'' one senior Western diplomat said.
The force is expected to be 4,000 to 5,000 soldiers, diplomats said, but no more than 1,000, if that many, would be in the first landings on Dec. 22.
The core of the force is expected to be made up of NATO members -- Britain, Germany, France, Turkey, Italy and Canada. Jordan and Bangladesh and possibly Indonesia, are also expected to send some soldiers.
Leaders of the Northern Alliance, who captured Kabul from the Taliban with minority ethnic Tajik troops, had told Brahimi they would accept no more than 1,000 soldiers in the new force, an issue that will still have to be negotiated.
The United Nations last week brokered an agreement in Bonn, Germany, among anti-Taliban factions for a new provisional government that is to take office in Kabul on Dec. 22.
The exiled former king then would convene a traditional assembly, or Loya Jirga, to approve a transitional government. Elections are scheduled in two years.