UNITED NATIONS (Reuters) - U.N. sanctions against Liberia's diamond exports and a travel ban on its leaders go into force on Monday to punish Monrovia for fueling a civil war in neighboring Sierra Leone through a gems-for-guns trade.
The U.N. Security Council imposed the ban on March 7, with a two-month delay to give Liberia time to cut ties with Sierra Leone's notorious Revolutionary United Front rebels, accused of killing, raping and mutilating civilians over the last decade.
But on Friday, council members made no move to stop the sanctions from going into effect, despite last minute-appeals from Liberian President Charles Taylor, held personally responsible for fomenting the war by supplying the rebels with guns in exchange for Sierra Leone's diamonds.
The decision was based on a report last week from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who said information indicated Liberia had not yet cut ties with the rebels, closed their bank accounts and expelled their leaders as the council demanded.
The embargoes, which include an arms ban that went into force in March, stay in place until May 2002 unless the council decides to lift them earlier or votes to extend them.
In the Liberian capital, Monrovia, over the weekend, thousands of people took to the streets, most of them women, marching in near silence past the U.S. Embassy and the European Union office to protest the sanctions.
On Saturday, they delivered a 13-point resolution to EU and U.S. diplomats calling for mediation to end conflict between Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The diamond-rich area where the countries meet is center of a growing conflict involving government forces and rebel groups from all three countries.
Want to learn more? http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=world&Repository=WORLD_REP&RepositoryStoryID=%2Fnews%2FIDS%2FWorld%2FINTERNATIONAL-UN-LIBERIA-DC_TXT.XML
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The U.N. Security Council imposed the ban on March 7, with a two-month delay to give Liberia time to cut ties with Sierra Leone's notorious Revolutionary United Front rebels, accused of killing, raping and mutilating civilians over the last decade.
But on Friday, council members made no move to stop the sanctions from going into effect, despite last minute-appeals from Liberian President Charles Taylor, held personally responsible for fomenting the war by supplying the rebels with guns in exchange for Sierra Leone's diamonds.
The decision was based on a report last week from U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan, who said information indicated Liberia had not yet cut ties with the rebels, closed their bank accounts and expelled their leaders as the council demanded.
The embargoes, which include an arms ban that went into force in March, stay in place until May 2002 unless the council decides to lift them earlier or votes to extend them.
In the Liberian capital, Monrovia, over the weekend, thousands of people took to the streets, most of them women, marching in near silence past the U.S. Embassy and the European Union office to protest the sanctions.
On Saturday, they delivered a 13-point resolution to EU and U.S. diplomats calling for mediation to end conflict between Liberia, Sierra Leone and Guinea. The diamond-rich area where the countries meet is center of a growing conflict involving government forces and rebel groups from all three countries.
Want to learn more? http://www.reuters.com/news_article.jhtml?type=world&Repository=WORLD_REP&RepositoryStoryID=%2Fnews%2FIDS%2FWorld%2FINTERNATIONAL-UN-LIBERIA-DC_TXT.XML
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PsychoticIckyThing
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PsychoticIckyThing.Com