Leaders from West African countries on Saturday called on the UN to bolster monitoring of Ivory Coast's border with neighbor Liberia, which is set to hold general elections next month.
Liberian authorities last month announced a seizure of a "worrisome" amount of arms and ammunition near the border with Ivory Coast, which is still recovering from a bloody post-election crisis.
Presidents from six countries "urged the United Nations to intensify joint UNOCI-UNMIL (peacekeeping missions) monitoring and control of the common border zone between the two countries."
The special mini summit was called by Ecowas, to come out with ways to address security concerns after Liberian immigration said they had seized weapons which included rockets, machine guns and assault rifles and a large amount of ammunition from unnamed people.
In a statement the leaders meeting under the aegis of the regional bloc Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) "declared zero tolerance for any attempt to oppose the verdict of the ballot box."Liberia is still fragile as it recovers from bloody civil wars waged by warloards and drugged child soldiers, that left some 150,000 dead between 1989 and 2003. The Country is set to hold Presidential election in October. The October vote is the second since the end of those devastating wars.
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