Peace process funding needed. (PeaceWatch: Sierra Leone).

Noting a number of positive political developments in Sierra Leone, the Security Council on 8 November urged international funding to bolster the country's efforts to achieve peace. Citing steps being taken to transform the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) into a political party, as well as progress in the country's disarmament, demobilization and reintegration process, the Council noted that "additional resources, especially for reintegration', would be needed. On 18 September, it had extended the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone until March 2002. UNAMSIL was now deployed in all provinces, while the Government had further extended its authority across the country in areas formally controlled by the RUF. Noting that preparations for UN-supported elections, scheduled for 2002, were under way, the Council emphasized "the importance of funds not only being pledged but also being disbursed". In Freetown, the Government and the RUF on 8 November agreed to take "immediate action to facilitate fast disar mament" in all districts by 30 November. The two sides agreed to collect arms from 15 November to 31 December, and to carry out "a wide publicity and sensitization effort" to ensure the programme's success.

RELATED ARTICLE: Extension of Liberia Sanctions Recommended

An independent panel recommended on 30 October that the Security Council extend the arms embargo and rough diamond sanctions against Liberia. The Council had established sanctions against Liberia in March 2001, in response to evidence that the Government was supporting the Revolutionary United Front (RUE) in Sierra Leone, and that Sierra Leonean diamonds smuggled through Liberia were a major source of income for the RUF. In its sanctions, the Council had prohibited the sale or supply of arms to the country, banned the import of all rough diamonds from Liberia, whether or not such diamonds originated there, and prohibited travel abroad by senior members of the Liberian Government and armed forces.

In its report, the expert panel, chaired by Martin Chungong Ayafor of Cameroon, said that despite some progress, a steady flow of new weapons had continued to enter into Liberia in violation of UN sanctions. Noting that timber production, an important revenue source for the Government, had also been used to finance sanctions-busting, the panel recommended that the UN impose a ban on all round-log exports from Liberia starting from July 2002. The panel also said that Liberia's maritime registry, the second largest in the world, had generated funds for opaque off-budget expenditures, and suggested that the Sanctions Committee for Liberia set up an escrow account as the ultimate destination for all revenues generated from the country's shipping and corporate registry. The panel further recommended that the Council consider lifting the grounding of Liberian aircraft because the Government had made progress in addressing irregularities regarding its registered aircraft, which were directly related to violations of the arms embargo.

On 11 October, Secretary-General Kofi Annan said a tightening of the existing sanction's regime would have repercussions on the financial environment of Liberia, with worsening exchange rates, increasing prices for essential commodities, decreased savings and more capital flight. These aggravating factors and their implications, he said, would particularly affect Liberia's poorest people, whose "resilience and coping capacities are next to exhausted".

Mr. Annan recommended that, if the Council decided to establish additional sanctions, it should consider setting up a mechanism to review their impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in Liberia. The monitoring mechanism, he said, would enable the Council to avoid unintended negative effects on Liberia's population and help counter public misrepresentations of the sanctions regime and its objectives.

On 22 October, the Council decided to extend the mandate of the United Nations Office in Liberia until December 2002.