ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN MONROVIA, 8 JULY

14 July 1999

Press Release
SG/T/2191

ACTIVITIES OF SECRETARY-GENERAL IN MONROVIA, 8 JULY

19990714 The Secretary-General arrived in Monrovia, Liberia, from Freetown, Sierra Leone, in mid-afternoon. He proceeded directly to the Executive Mansion, where he met with Liberian President Charles Taylor.

The President reaffirmed his intention to destroy in a "bonfire" a significant amount of weapons collected from the civil war in his country. A safe site had been identified and a date set -- 26 July. He and the Secretary-General then talked of peace-building in the subregion. The Secretary-General suggested taking a regional approach and said he would write to James Wolfensohn, President of the World Bank, to ask for help. The Secretary-General thanked the President for his role in bringing about peace in neighbouring Sierra Leone.

The Secretary-General then met with representatives of the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) Citizens' Union, before having an encounter with the press. In response to a question from a journalist, he said he welcomed Liberia's plan to destroy many of its weapons on 26 July and said it should serve as a model for other countries, especially in Africa.

The Vice-President of Liberia, Enoch M. Dogolea, and parliamentary leaders then met with the Secretary-General in the Capitol building. They affirmed their intention that Africa should not be left behind in the next century in terms of democratization, technology and human-centred development.

The Secretary-General greeted United Nations staff at the United Nations compound in Monrovia and then attended a dinner in his honour hosted by the President. He left Monrovia in the late evening, arriving at about 11 p.m. in Conakry, Guinea, where he started an official programme the next morning.

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