Recognizing the continuing challenges Liberia faces as it seeks to rebuild after a 14-year civil war, the Security Council on Thursday extended the mandate of the U.N. mission in the West African country while endorsing Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's call for a reduction in the level of peacekeepers there.In unanimously adopting the resolution renewing the mandate of the U.N. Mission in Liberia (UNMIL) until September 30, 2008, council members also backed the three-year plan, set to begin this October, which entails reducing UNMIL's military component by about 5,000 and its police component by 500.The plan was presented last month in Ban's report on Liberia, in which he wrote that “sufficient progress has been made in the implementation of the mission's mandate and in stabilizing the security situation in the country to allow for further adjustments to be made to the military and police components of UNMIL.”Despite Liberia's progress, including a nearly 50 percent increase in public revenues, the secretary-general noted in his report that the “slow progress in strengthening the security sector is a source of great concern.”UNMIL was established in 2003 to support Liberia's ceasefire and peace process, and currently has over 14,000 troops and nearly 1,200 police officers, along with about 500 international civilian personnel.
