UN declares Liberia 'calm'

2009-05-21 10:07

Monrovia - The UN Security Council said on Wednesday it will re-evaluate the need for the 10 000-strong peacekeeping force in this nation emerging from a disastrous civil war.

Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the 15-nation council, said the UN body found Liberia to be "calm" and called the situation on the ground "encouraging".

"The general degree of security is calm," said Rice at the final press conference of the council's tour of Africa, which also took them to Ethiopia, Rwanda and war-wracked eastern Congo.

Rice said Liberia "has embarked on a very ambitious program to transform Liberia from its status as a fragile state emerging from conflict to one that is self-sufficient and a proud and strong member of the West African community".

Fourteen years of back-to-back civil wars devastated Liberia, Africa's oldest independent republic. But 2005 saw the election of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, a Harvard-trained economist who has become a darling of foreign donors and has led a sweeping crackdown on corruption.

Relative fragility

Rice said the Security Council would review the country's peacekeeping mandate, which is up in September. The force was once 17 000-strong but was heavily scaled back three years ago as the country stabilised following a 2003 cease-fire.

Rice did not say if the peacekeeping force would be further reduced, but tried to address the worries of Liberians who fear a return to violence.

"We are fully cognisant of the current security situation and its relative fragility and we will bear that in mind as we make decisions going forward," she said.

Liberians are nervous that the UN body may scale back too far.

"Liberia is not ready to see any scale-down," said rights activist Melvin Page. "We do not have full security in place as yet. We do not have an army."

The nation of 3.5 million has an army of just 2 000 soldiers. While peace has largely returned to Liberia, villages are dotted with mass graves and known war criminals have not been prosecuted because of the country's decision to postpone forming a war crimes court, as neighbouring Sierra Leone did after its concurrent civil war.

Meanwhile, violent crime, especially rape, has flourished. Residents worry that a reduction in the numbers of peacekeepers - even a small one - could rekindle the conflict.

Long process

"The scaling down could give reason for any disgruntled individuals to try to start trouble in this country again," said Page.

The UN force mans checkpoints in the capital, on highways and in the jungle-covered interior. It also leads a night patrol in Monrovia in conjunction with Liberian police to try to cut crime.

To assess the level of security, the delegates had planned to travel by aircraft to remote Grand Bassa County where they were to visit a job training centre for ex-rebels.

But the trip was cancelled due to heavy rains and the delegates appeared to have spent their day mostly behind closed doors in a tête-à-tête with Sirleaf, a former UN official who once headed the Africa office of the United Nations Development Program.

The British ambassador to the UN John Sawers, who led the eight-day African trip, said although there are still challenges, Liberia needs to become self-sufficient.

"Liberia under the government of Ellen Johnson Sirleaf is rebuilding itself. It is a long process," he said. "But also what is important is that Liberia has the perspective of standing on its own feet."

- AP