THE UNITED NATIONS Secretary General, Dr Boutros Boutros Ghali, has warned of disastrous consequences in the west African country of Liberia unless a peace accord signed last August is restored soon.
In a report to the Security Council, he said the civilian population and even some combatants had demonstrated a strong desire for peace.
But they were frustrated by the failure of the Council of States set up last September, and of faction leaders to muster the political will and determination to implement the peace agreement signed in Abuja, Nigeria, particularly its provisions for disarmament and demobilisation.
"The situation in Liberia is rapidly deteriorating and I fear that, unless the peace process is put back on track in the very near future, the consequences could be disastrous," Dr Boutros Ghali said. The Abuja agreement followed a dozen previous accords that failed to end the six year old, multi sided conflict that has claimed more than 150,000 lives and displaced about half of Liberia's pre war population of some 2.5 million.
Dr Boutros Ghali called on the Council of State to approve immediately a revised disarmament and demobilisation plan and ensure the factions were ready to disarm by an April 30th deadline.
A small UN Observer Mission some 90 military observers works with a 7,500 strong force known as Ecomog, fielded by the Economic Community of West African States (Ecowas).
Dr Boutros Ghali said that while Ecomog (the Ecowas Monitoring Group) had recently received some assistance, particularly from the United States, it still lacked the additional man power and logistics required to deploy throughout the country to establish a secure environment.
Calling for urgent international action to enable the force to carry out its mandate, the secretary general said failure to provide the necessary resources had given the factions an opportunity to "procrastinate and renege on their commitments."
"The international community may ultimately face a major humanitarian disaster that could destabilise the region," Dr BoutrosGhali said. "Such a disaster would be far more costly, in the long run, than providing Ecomog with the means to carry out its responsibilities under the Abuja Agreement."
Meanwhile, in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, more than 500 angry demonstrators disrupted traffic by setting up roadblocks to protest at looting of their properties by fighters of a Liberian militia group.
A spokesman for the protesters said fighters loyal to the ousted leader of the Krahn wing of the United Liberation Movement, Ulimo-J, Mr Roosevelt Johnson, "last night looted our properties. worth thousands of dollars after government ordered us out of the area Thursday."