May 7, 2002
The Liberian government Tuesday reacted angrily to a decision by the United Nations to renew sanctions on Monrovia, saying it had done all possible to comply with Security Council demands. The council voted unanimously Monday to renew for 12 months an arms embargo on Liberia and a ban on dealing in its rough diamonds, but decided against imposing additional sanctions.
The sanctions also include restrictions on air travel by senior Liberian government and military officials and their wives. Information Minister Reginald Goodridge Tuesday told AFP the Monrovia government had "known beforehand that the United Nations Security Council was going to extend the sanctions". "What bothers us is the comment from the president of the Security Council to the effect that there has been significant improvement over last year ... but the work has not been completed," Goodridge said. Monrovia, he added, had attempted to adhere to the terms of the UN Security Council sanctions by suspending sales of rough diamonds and shelving an aircraft registry programme.
The sanctions were imposed a year ago with the expressed aim of obliging the government of Liberia's President Charles Taylor to curb support for the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) in Sierra Leone. "We wonder what type of work they're referring to, because we know that Sierra Leone is settled, there is no more RUF," Goodridge said. In recent months, tens of thousands of RUF fighters have surrendered their weapons, allowing Sierra Leone to hold general elections later in May.
"The purpose of the sanctions on Liberia was to achieve peace in Sierra Leone, and the general consensus was that significant progress has been made," Security Council president Kishore Mahbubani told reporters after Monday's vote. But Mahbubani said council members felt that "the job has not been done completely and therefore they renewed the sanctions". Liberian minister Goodridge said he believed the sanctions were renewed because "someone out there has an agenda and until that agenda is achieved, they will continue to target us."
He said the arms embargo was emboldening rebels of the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) movement who have been leading an insurgency in northern Liberia from bases in Guinea. "Psychologically they believe we are at a disadvantage, which indeed we are," he said. The rebels this year have taken their fight to Monrovia's surroundings, prompting Taylor to declare a state of emergency on February 8.
Goodridge said a fresh attack had taken place in northern Lofa county, where most of the violence has occurred, on the village of Weansue, about 10 kilometres (seven miles) north of the provincial capital Gbargna. He could not verify claims by witnesses in the area that at least three civilians were killed in the attack.
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