PRESS STATEMENT ON LIBERIA BY PRESIDENT OF SECURITY COUNCIL

PRESS STATEMENT ON LIBERIA BY PRESIDENT OF SECURITY COUNCIL

Following is the text of today’s press statement on Liberia by Adolfo Aguilar Zinser (Mexico), President of the Security Council:

Members of the Council were briefed on the latest developments in Liberia.  They deplored the violence and expressed their concern regarding the humanitarian and social situation in that country.  They reiterated their principled stand on armed incursions referred to in paragraph 4 of resolution 1343 (2001) by demanding that States in the region take action to prevent armed groups and individuals from using their territory to prepare and commit attacks on neighbouring countries.

Members of the Council called upon the Government of Liberia to take effective actions to respect human rights and the safety of civilians, particularly the most vulnerable, and also to secure access for relief workers and humanitarian agencies.  Likewise, they called on armed insurgents to respect human life, particularly the life of those trapped by the conflict.  The members of the Council called on President Taylor to honour his pledge not to use the declaration of a state of emergency to curtail civil liberties in Liberia.

Members of the Council expressed their support to the Secretary-General’s recent appeal, by calling on all Liberians to resolve their differences through dialogue and not through violence.  In the light of the necessary regional understanding that must exist in favour of peace, they also welcomed early reports that the Presidents of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, of the Mano River Union, may meet soon.

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