20120322
AFP
A UN envoy on Thursday called on the impoverished Sierra Leone government to explain why it has imported several million dollars worth of assault weapons for a police paramilitary wing.
The country is still rebuilding from the 1991-2002 civil war and political tensions have risen ahead of a presidential election in November.
UN envoy to Sierra Leone, Michael von der Schulenburg, told the UN Security Council the reported arms shipment in January was "of great concern."
He said the arms were intended for a recently enlarged police para-military wing, the Operational Services Division. He quoted a leaked shipping bill as indicating the arms include "machine guns and even grenade launchers."
"Sierra Leone is under no arms embargo. However given Sierra Leone's progress in establishing peace and security throughout the country and its relatively low crime rate, it is not clear why the police would need such weapons," the envoy said.
"I would urge the government to full clarify these reports and, if true, explain the intended use of these weapons."
Schulenburg is leaving the UN mission in Sierra Leone and diplomats say the government demanded that the United Nations withdraw the German envoy.
"The council was full of praise for the role he has played," Britain's deputy UN ambassador Philip Parham said of the envoy, speaking on behalf of the council as its president for March.
Without commenting on the case, Parham said the council had to take action with the UN leadership so that "as far as possible we avoid any sense that a host government can have a veto over the leadership of a UN mission for reasons that are not valid."
The scars of the West African country's civil war run deep. The International Criminal Court is to give a verdict on April 26 on war crimes charges against former Liberian leader Charles Taylor for his role in Sierre Leone's conflict.
And political tensions have risen in the country in lead-up to the November vote, with some clashes between supporters of rival parties in recent months.
Schulenburg said the November 17 presidential election, in which President Ernest Koroma is seeking a new term, would be a "major challenge for the country's nascent democracy.
"Sierra Leone must pass this crucial test in its history without allowing the demons of the past to re-emerge," said the envoy.
Sierra Leone's Foreign Minister Joseph Dauda did not mention the guns in his address to the Security Council.
But he said: "I wish to confirm that government, recognizing the 2012 elections as a litmus test for our peace and democratic governance consolidation, is taking all necessary steps to ensure that the elections will be peaceful, free, fair, transparent and credible."
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