Keep looking for a solution - Annan

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan appealed on Friday to the Security Council not to lose sight of the need for an early solution to the conflict in Liberia. Amid reports of mercenary activities, political finger pointing and failing social services, the security situation had deteriorated so badly in the country that it was virtually impossible to reach desperate refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs), according to the report. The document, issued to the UN Security Council ahead of a meeting it was scheduled to hold on Liberia on Monday, draws on various sources, including a recent mission to the region by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), the observations of the UN Office in Liberia and insights from the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) "Whatever decision the Council may take in response to the present report," Annan said, "it must not lose sight of the urgent need to find an early solution to the conflict in Liberia, whose deleterious effect is fast spreading throughout an already troubled sub-region." He said Liberia's volatile security situation had made it extremely difficult to reach IDPs and refugees who had fallen victim to abductions, conscriptions and other gross violations of human rights. In a "fragile" political climate characterised by threats to government opponents and widespread human rights abuses, UN sanctions imposed some time ago were being blamed for everything and used as a pretext for the government not to meet its responsibilities to the people, Annan recalled ECOWAS as saying in a recent report. He recommended that an international force be deployed to maintain peace and security, particularly in light of impending presidential and legislative elections. Among other things, the ECOWAS report quoted sources on the ground as saying that about 60 percent of the country was now under rebel control, confirmed the grave situation of refugees and noted that there was now no safe haven for IDPs, who were constantly under attack by rebel groups and government security agents. The UN Resident Coordinator in Liberia, Marc Destanne de Bernis, told IRIN on Friday that humanitarian agencies could not access 70 percent of the country. He said the agencies were calling for safe humanitarian corridors. "We hope that as part of the peace negotiations there will be access to such corridors," he said. De Bernis accompanied the UN envoy for the humanitarian crisis in Cote d'Ivoire, Carolyn McAskie, to western Cote d'Ivoire where thousands of Liberian refugees are trapped in an area whose population would like them to leave, while communities elsewhere have refused to accomodate them. So far, the only regional country willing to accept any of them is Nigeria, UNHCR officials said. De Bernis said the humanitarian situation in Liberia was "terrible" and that it was becoming more and more difficult and dangerous for humanitarian workers to deliver assistance. "The government does not seem to have the capacity to ensure protection of civilians and that of humanitarian workers," he said. In his report, Annan said, however, that there was a "glimmer of hope for the search for peace". He said he was encouraged by a decision of the Council to visit Liberia and its neighbours in May. He urged that every effort be made to persuade Liberia's government and the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) to listen to the pleas of the Liberian people, renounce violence and give peace a chance. The Secretary-General's report can be accessed at: http://ods-dds-ny.un.org/