Global Policy Forum

By Jerome Dalieh

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan says he does not believe that a sustainable solution to Liberia's multiple challenges can be found through military means.

Mr. Annan has therefore urged the United Nations (UN) Security Council to remain engaged with the Liberian Government and its people. The UN Security General made these observation recently in his report to the Security Council regarding the crisis in Liberia.

In his report, Mr. Annan also observed that "peace in Liberia is vital not only for efforts to put an end to the suffering of the Liberian people, but also to help consolidate the important gains made in Sierra Leone within the wider framework of promoting sustainable peace and security in the subregion."

Mr. Annan then told the security Council that he regards as encouraging recent indication by the Government that it is prepared to engage in dialogue with the dissident Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), as long as that group agrees to stop fighting. The LURD had been engaged in military warfare to unseat the Liberian Government since 1999.

In addition to the rebel war, a UN Security Council's sanction regime remains imposed on the Liberian Government on suspicion that the Government had been a principal source of support to the defunct RUF rebels in Sierra Leone. Although the Liberian Government had persistently denied the allegations, international travel restrictions were placed on all senior Government officials, including their associates, and a ban on diamond exports.

The Government also inherited a UN arms embargo from the 1990s civil crisis. The Secretary General's report to the Security Council is therefore regarded as an update of the Liberian Government's compliance with the sanctions. According to the report, Mr. Annan's observations are based on information provided to the UN office in Monrovia by the Liberian Government, the UN Mission in Sierra Leone and information provided by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).

Regarding information from the UN office in Monrovia, Mr. Annan disclosed that the Monrovia office still lacks the appropriate capacity to provide independent confirmation of claims by the Government regarding its compliance with the sanctions. He however said that the UN office in Monrovia has reported among other things that the Liberian Government has reiterated that its policy of disengagement with the RUF, which was adopted January 12, 2001, has remained unchanged.

Note was taken of the Government's observation that Sierra Leone had successfully held free and fair elections with the full cooperation and participation of the defunct RUF, which had transformed itself into a political party. The Liberian Government, in Mr. Annan's report, is said to have pointed out that the absence of armed hostilities in Sierra Leone for most of last year and this year indicates that it "harbored" no plan to destabilize Sierra Leone or any other state in the subregion.

Meanwhile, UN office in Monrovia, according to Mr. Annan's report, has confirmed that the Government has "studiously" participated in all joint security meetings held under the auspices of the Mano River Union.

Regarding the diamond ban, the report said the Government reaffirmed its ban on the importation of uncertified rough diamonds and the related ban on the export of Liberian diamonds. The report further said the Government reported that it was engaged with the High Diamond Council, which has formally drawn up a draft plan of action for Liberia's diamond certification regime.

Regarding information provided by the UN Mission in Sierra Leone, Mr. Annan told the Security Council that the Mission in Sierra Leone had not observed any indication of the Liberian Government alleged support to the RUF, financially or logistically. The report said the RUF no longer exists in Sierra Leone, having been "supplanted" into a political party. Regarding information provided by ECOWAS, Mr. Annan's report said the Liberia Government maintained that all known ex-RUF members had been expelled from Liberia.

Although the Secretary-General reported independently as saying that there was no evidence of the presence of RUF members in Liberia, some undisclosed sources had alleged that some RUF members may have been integrated into the security services of Liberia. Mr. Annan has meanwhile, observed that there is an urgent need to find an early solution to the Liberian conflict, and welcomed all efforts, including the recent establishment of the International contact group on Liberia and the continuation Rabat Peace process.

Also in his report, Mr. Annan urged the Liberian government to make efforts to provide security guarantees, and promote the fundamental freedoms enshrined in the charter of the United Nations, as necessary conditions for peace and the return of donors and foreign investors to Liberia. The Secretary General's report comes ahead of a UN Security Council meeting on Liberia expected this week. It has been reported that the Security Council would meet on November 7, 2002 to discuss Liberia.

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