Liberia: UN sanctions should be lifted - ECOWAS

United Nations sanctions on exports of timber and diamonds from Liberia should be lifted if the West African country's economy is to recover from years of war, one of the region's top diplomats said on Monday (15 May). The trade prohibitions were imposed on Liberia during the final years of its civil war, a diamond-fuelled conflict which killed a quarter of a million people, devastated its once vibrant economy and left its infrastructure in ruins.