The United Nations Security Council decided on Wednesday to extend arms and diamonds embargo on Cote d'Ivoire for an additional year until Oct. 31, 2009.
In its unanimously adopted Resolution 1842, the 15-member council called for a review of the sanctions before deciding whether to extend the measures before next October.
It urged a review of the measures "no later than three months after the holding of open, free, fair and transparent presidential elections in accordance with international standards."
The election, which was delayed for several times and now scheduled for Nov. 30 this year, looks likely to be put off further due to delays in voter registration, reports said, citing officials at the Independent Electoral Commission.
Cote d'Ivoire, a leading cocoa and diamond exporter in western Africa, was split in two after a botched coup attempt by the New Forces (FN) rebels in 2002, with the north under FN control.
In the latest resolution, which was drafted by France, the UN Security Council also decided to extend the mandate of the Group of Experts on Cote d'Ivoire until Oct. 31 next year.
It said the Security Council "is fully prepared to impose targeted measures against persons" who are deemed as "a threat to the peace and national reconciliation process in Cote d'Ivoire," who attack, or obstruct the action of the United Nations Operation in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI), of the French forces which support it, or publicly incite hatred and violence.
On March 4, 2007, President Laurent Gbagbo and FN secretary general Guillaume Soro concluded a peace agreement in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, under which Soro was named prime minister in order to spearhead the search for lasting peace in the country.
Under the accord, the two sides committed themselves to disarming combatants, redeploying regional administrators and organizing elections.
Source:Xinhua
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