ECOWAS monitoring mission to visit

A mission of the ECOWAS Mediation and Security Council is to travel to Liberia on 18 April to monitor the implementation of measures the Liberian government has been required to take under a UN Security Council resolution of 7 March relating to the application of sanctions against Liberia. This was disclosed in a joint communique issued on Wednesday at the end of a one-day extraordinary summit of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The mission will comprise Cote d’Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Mali, Nigeria, Togo and the ECOWAS executive secretariat. Security Council Resolution 1343 (2001) seeks to ensure that Liberia stops supporting Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in Sierra Leone. It was passed after UN and other reports accused the Liberian government of backing the RUF and illegally trading guns for diamonds with the rebels. The resolution requires the Monrovia government to expel all RUF members from Liberia, ban all RUF activity on Liberian territory, stop giving the rebels military and other support and cease the direct or indirect import of uncertified rough diamonds from Sierra Leone. Liberia’s government has also been asked to freeze any funds made available to its nationals or within the country for the benefit of the RUF. The Security Council resolution also demands that the Liberian government ground all Liberia-registered aircraft until it updates its register of aircraft and provides the Security Council with “updated information on the registration and ownership of each aircraft registered in Liberia”.