UNITED NATIONS Security Council extended its embargo on diamond exports from Liberia for a period of six months, citing a failure to meet the requirements of the Kimberley Process Certification Scheme (KPCS), the internationally agreed system designed to prevent blood diamonds from entering the market, reports the UN News Centre. UN sanctions have been in place since 2001 to stop Liberia�s trade in diamonds, which were used for many years to finance wars against governments across Africa.

In a unanimous resolution, the council called on secretary-general Kofi Annan to reappoint the panel of experts overseeing the ban. It also agreed that although �sustained progress� has been made in Liberia since Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became President in January, the situation in the once war-torn West African country remained so fragile that it constituted a threat to regional peace.

The panel of experts� most recent report said the Liberian government cannot yet demonstrate the internal controls necessary to meet the KPCS requirements. �Although most of the necessary components are now in hand, they still require final arrangement into a coherent and functioning mechanism with long-term durability and credibility,� the panel stated.

The experts added that Liberia�s ministry of lands, mines and energy needs to exercise stronger leadership to achieve this objective. Council members agreed to renew the sanctions for six months, with a review after four months, to give the Liberian government sufficient time to establish a transparent and internationally verifiable regime for trade in the rough diamonds.

This latest ban comes only a week after the Security Council renewed its sanctions on diamond exports from Ivory Coast � Liberia�s easterly neighbour � until October 31, 2007.