UNITED NATIONS, Sept. 11 (UPI) -- The effort to bring unity to Liberia following years of civil war is still a work in progress, a U.N. special envoy told the Security Council.
The U.N. Mission in Liberia is ensuring the sustainability of a 2003 cease-fire ending a civil war in the country that left around 150,000 people dead.
In deciding to extend the mandate for the U.N. Mission in Liberia, the Security Council last year determined "the situation in Liberia continues to constitute a threat to international peace and security in the region."
Karin Landgren, U.N. special envoy to Liberia, told the Security Council the mandate for UNMIL will expire at the end of the month. It's already scaled back its military presence, but was working alongside Liberian police in "potential hotspots."
Landgren said outbreaks of small-scale violence were routine in the country more than 10 years after the cease-fire agreement. The effort to unite a country torn apart by civil war was still a work in progress, she said.
A contest for 15 seats in the Liberian Senate is scheduled for October 2014. The envoy said that would set the tone for 2017 presidential elections, which she said would be a "political watershed moment."
