Panel appointed to review compliance with sanctions

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Wednesday appointed four specialists to an expert panel whose mandate will be to review Liberia's compliance with sanctions imposed on the country in 2001. The panel, which is multi-national and diverse in terms of expertise, was re-established last month by the Security Council. The Council tasked the panel with reporting on Monrovia's compliance with Resolution 1343 of 2001 which, among other things, imposed a travel ban on key government officials and demanded that the government take action to stop the transiting through Liberia of illicit diamonds which were sold to fuel the conflict in Sierra Leone. Since the imposition of the sanctions regime, several panels have been appointed to verify Liberia's compliance. Each panel has recommended the prolongation of the sanctions because of Monrovia's failure to comply. The new panel will be chaired by Atabou Bobian, a Senegalese aviation expert. Other members include Enrico Carish of Switzerland, an expert in financial links, Damien Callamand of France from Interol and a British diamond expert, Alex Vines.