UN Sanction for Ivory Coast Extended

The Ivory Coast is not at Peace

• in 2004 the UN Sanctioned the Ivory Coast becasue they violated a 2003 cease-fire between the government and the New Forces rebels
• In 2005 they added an embargo on diamonds mined in Ivory Coast

-technial evidance suggests New Forces Guerillas are still involved in Diamond and arms markets to support theri forces

-Shimron

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 29 (Reuters) - The U.N. Security Council renewed arms and diamond sanctions against Ivory Coast on Monday in a bid to make the West African country stick to the terms of a peace process following a civil war.

A resolution passed unanimously by the 15-member council extended the sanctions for a further year but promised to review them during that period, in which general elections are supposed to be held in the world's biggest cocoa exporter.

Ivory Coast has made stuttering progress towards reunification since a March peace deal signed in Burkina Faso's capital Ouagadougou by President Laurent Gbagbo and rebel leader Guillaume Soro, now his prime minister.

The Security Council slapped an arms embargo on Ivory Coast in 2004 over the violation of a 2003 cease-fire between the government and the New Forces rebels who control the country's North. An embargo on buying rough diamonds mined in Ivory Coast followed in 2005.
Monday's resolution renewed the sanctions until Oct. 31, 2008.

But the council promised to review them after the peace deal is fully implemented and after free presidential and legislative elections, or in any case by April 30.

During a speech to the U.N. General Assembly last month, Gbagbo asked the council to ease the sanctions.

"We think that all the aspects of the Ouagadougou agreement have not yet been put into effect, notably on disarmament problems. So we think it's necessary to keep the pressure up," French Ambassador Jean-Maurice Ripert told reporters.

"We think it's necessary to keep the pressure up so that the electoral calendar is respected."

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