U.N. extends mandate for Liberia

• Tweet

UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 18 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council adopted a measure extending the mandate for its mission in Liberia and decided to add more units to the country's peacekeeping patrol.

The U.N. Mission in Liberia is ensuring the sustainability of a 2003 cease-fire that ended a civil war in the country that left around 150,000 people dead.

Nobel Peace Prize laureate Ellen Johnson Sirleaf secured a second term as president during last year's election. The Security Council took note of the vote, but said there were "significant challenges" that were exacerbated by instability in neighboring Ivory Coast.

In deciding to extend the mandate for the U.N. Mission in Liberia, the Security Council determined that "the situation in Liberia continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region."

The Security Council opted to increase the strength of UNMIL's police unit to 1,795 uniformed personnel. The first unit would deploy no later than January.

Karin Landgren, U.N. special envoy to Liberia, briefed members of the U.N. Security Council on the country's progress last week. The country, she said, has transformed itself from a failed state to a democracy in just a few years.

A U.N. report on Liberia stressed, however, that "much work remains to be done" to address historical injustices in the country.