UNITED NATIONS SANCTIONS ON EXPORTS OF TIMBER AND DIAMONDS FROM LIBERIA SHOULD BE LIFTED IF THE WEST AFRICAN COUNTRY'S ECONOMY IS TO RECOVER FROM YEARS OF WAR, ONE OF THE REGION'S TOP DIPLOMATS SAID ON MONDAY, ACCORDING TO REUTERS. THE TRADE PROHIBITIONS WERE IMPOSED ON LIBERIA DURING THE FINAL YEARS OF ITS CIVIL WAR, A DIAMOND-FUELLED CONFLICT WHICH KILLED A QUARTER OF A MILLION PEOPLE, DEVASTATED ITS ONCE VIBRANT ECONOMY AND LEFT ITS INFRASTRUCTURE IN RUINS. PRESIDENT ELLEN JOHNSON-SIRLEAF, WHO TOOK OFFICE IN JANUARY AFTER WINNING THE FIRST ELECTIONS SINCE THE WAR ENDED IN 2003, HAS PLEDGED TO REBUILD THE COUNTRY, WHICH IS STILL WITHOUT RUNNING WATER OR ELECTRICITY YEARS AFTER THE GUNS FELL SILENT. "IT IS IMPORTANT SANCTIONS SHOULD BE LIFTED ON THE COUNTRY FOR THE NEW GOVERNMENT TO HAVE ACCESS TO NEEDED RESOURCES TO EXECUTE ITS PROGRAMME AND IMPROVE THE LIVING STANDARDS OF THE PEOPLE," SAID MOHAMMED IBN CHAMBAS, EXECUTIVE SECRETARY OF THE ECONOMIC COMMUNITY OF WEST AFRICAN STATES (ECOWAS). HE SAID THE INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY MUST SUPPORT GOVERNMENTS IN LIBERIA AND NEIGHBOURING SIERRA LEONE -- ANOTHER STATE EMERGING FROM A BRUTAL CIVIL WAR -- WHERE LARGE NUMBERS OF FRUSTRATED, UNEMPLOYED YOUTHS COULD STILL THREATEN STABILITY. "THE DANGER IS THAT IF DEMOCRACY DOES NOT PRODUCE QUICK DIVIDENDS IN BOTH SIERRA LEONE AND LIBERIA ... APATHY AND CYNICISM MAY BEGIN TO SET IN," HE SAID IN A SPEECH AT THE OPENING OF AN ECOWAS SUMMIT IN THE CAPITAL MONROVIA.
