United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon recommended on Thursday the more than 14 000 peacekeepers in Liberia be reduced by about 5 000 over the next three years, starting in October.
But Ban said it was ”too early to determine” when to withdraw the entire peacekeeping force, which would depend on the state of the domestic police and army in the West African nation, which has been beset by years of large-scale corruption and warfare that spilled into the region.
He said the current mandate of the force should be extended for a year.
”The important national elections due to be held in Liberia in October 2011 would also need to be taken into account in making the final decision on the mission’s withdrawal,” Ban said in the report to the UN Security Council.
The first step in the drawdown would be to repatriate 2 450 troops, beginning in October and ending in September 2008. This would be followed by a three-month review period to assess the overall stability of the force.
The second stage would withdraw 500 military personnel by August 2009. And the third phase would repatriate 2 191 troops from September 2009 to December 2010, leaving about 9 000 military. The mission also has 1 177 civilian police.
Ban, in the report, said the government of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, elected two years ago, had made ”great strides” in consolidating peace and promoting economic recovery, particularly in timber and diamonds, where sanctions had been lifted. School enrolment also increased 40%.
But he said the challenges were formidable, with a hit-and-miss justice system, high unemployment and few basic social services.
Former combatants, the report said, had failed to find work so ”thousands have regrouped for the purpose of illegally exploiting natural resources in diamond- and gold-mining areas, as well as on rubber plantations.”
Liberia’s economy grew 5,3% in 2005 and jumped to 7,9% in 2006. The gross domestic product is estimated at $574-million, with a per capita income of $163. But its foreign debt is $3,7-billion, about 800% of the GDP and 3 000% of exports. The country’s domestic debt is estimated at $700-million, the report said.
But the precariousness of Liberia’s recovery from its 1989 to 2003 civil war was underscored this year when the government foiled a coup plot by a former army chief.
Charles Taylor, the former Liberian president and warlord, is on trial in The Netherlands, accused of instigating murder, rape and mutilation in a quest for diamonds in neighbouring Sierra Leone. Taylor’s trial is being conducted by a special Sierra Leone court. — Reuters