Liberian sanctions stay put
2003-11-07 14:15
New York - The president of the UN security council said on Thursday that Liberia remains too unstable to warrant lifting sanctions on the West African state.
Ambassador Ismael Gaspar Martins of Angola said the council instead asked the sanctions committee for a further review of the situation following a new report on the country, which has been wracked by two civil wars in 14 years.
"We will hold another session of the council at the appropriate time," said Gaspar Martins, adding that the UN peacekeeping force in Liberia -due to peak at 15 000 troops - was now at about half strength.
A new UN report on Wednesday found some progress had been made since the departure of president Charles Taylor and a subsequent power-sharing agreement in August, but said concerns remain about arms trafficking and a robust trade in diamonds.
It said the interim government "lacks funding to operate properly" and that a combination of porous borders and regional insecurity have made it "impossible" to fully enforce the UN arms embargo.
It called for the formation of an independent commission to conduct "systematic investigations of all revenue-producing entities" that want to operate in the country.
"The challenge now for the international community is to provide adequate support to the transition government while remaining vigilant to the re-emergence of corruption and state-sanctioned violence," it said.
The sanctions were originally slapped on Liberia to try to block Taylor's support for rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
On Tuesday, the senior UN official in Liberia, Jacques Klein, told the BBC that the United Nations could not stop factional fighting until it had enough troops on the ground.