UN Security Council condemns rebel supporters

The UN Security Council has urged its Sanctions Committee on Sierra Leone to investigate violations of an existing arms embargo and recommend appropriate action, Council President Celso Amorim of Brazil said. In a statement read on behalf of the Council, Amorim said it “strongly condemned” all those supporting the rebels with arms and mercenaries, particularly the aid coming “from the territory of Liberia”. In a letter written on Monday to the Council president, delivered by Liberia’s representative at the UN, Liberian President Charles Taylor denied his government’s involvement in supporting the rebels. He called on the UN to place observers at the Liberian-Sierra Leonean border to monitor the implementation of the UN embargo. The Council said it would continue to monitor the situation in Sierra Leone closely. It urged international bodies to provide humanitarian aid and called on all parties to the conflict to allow humanitarian aid workers access to the needy. In addition, the Council asked states to provide, urgently, logistics and other support to ECOMOG so it could perform its duty effectively in the country. It also called for dialogue and national reconciliation as a means to achieving lasting peace in the country.