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Ambassador Jean-Marc de La Sablière of France, which holds the 15-member
body’s rotating presidency during March, announced an upcoming major public
meeting to discuss Secretary-General Kofi Annan’s report on cross-border
problems in West Africa. Those invited to speak at the 25 March event included representatives of
the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), agencies working in
the region and the major donors. The aim was to encourage an integrated
approach to such problems as refugees, arms trafficking, mercenaries and
child soldiers, he said. In addition, the Council plans to study the continued deployment of the UN
Mission in Liberia (UNMIL), as well as the renewal of a reduced UN Mission in
Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), he noted, adding that work was also under way to
assess the possibility of a UN peacekeeping mission in Burundi. In the second week of March, he said, the Council would examine the
Secretary-General’s report on the UN Mission in Ethiopia and Eritrea (UNMEE).
The mission’s mandate was set to expire at a time when one of the countries
would not receive the Special Envoy appointed to renew their dialogue. More than two years after the attack on the United States on 11 September
2001 and the adoption of a key Council resolution in response, the time had
come to evaluate the effectiveness of the measures governments were taking to
fight terrorism, Mr. de La Sablière said. A new resolution, based on a recent report from Spain, should serve to
enhance the work of the UN Counter-Terrorism Committee (CTC), he said.
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