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 UNITED NATIONS - The United Nations (UN) Security Council has
renewed for another 12 months the arms embargo on Liberia as well as
individual sanctions against some Liberian personalities deemed a
threat to peace.
The moves came in Resolution 1792,
adopted by all 15 members, which however welcomed the "sustained
progress" made by the government of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf
since January 2006 in rebuilding the country "for the benefit of all
Liberians."
But based on a report by a panel of
experts on Liberia released late November, the council concluded that
"insufficient progress has been made" in maintaining stability in
Liberia and the sub-region.
It also determined that
the situation in Liberia "continues to constitute a threat to
international peace and security in the region."
The arms embargo on Liberia was first imposed by the Security Council in 1992 and tightened in March 2001 to curb arms
trafficking via Liberia to rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
The
Council also extended for one year the travel ban imposed under a
Security Council resolution on those individuals threatening the
Liberian peace process, including senior officials of the ousted
government of ex-leader Charles Taylor.
Taylor is
being tried for war crimes by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra
Leone, which was moved from Freetown to The Hague over security
concerns. The trial was postponed quickly after it opened in June.
Once
one of Africa's most feared warlords, Taylor has pleaded not guilty to
all 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including
murder, rape and using child soldiers during the brutal 1991-2001 civil
war in Sierra Leone.
About 120,000 people were killed in the conflict, with rebels mutilating thousands more, cutting off arms, legs, ears or noses.
Taylor was also a
key player in Liberia's back-to-back civil wars which spanned 14 years.
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