United Nations

 NEW YORK, 13 March (UN Headquarters) -- The Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1132 (1997) concerning Sierra Leone held its fourteenth meeting on 10 March and discussed the fact that Mike Lamin, Minister of Trade and Industry in Sierra Leone, left Sierra Leone without authorization of the Committee.  In this connection, the Committee requested its Chairman, Ambassador Anwarul Karim Chowdhury (Bangladesh), to bring to the attention of all concerned this alleged breach of the sanctions regime.  The Committee once again decided to remind all Member States of their obligations under Security Council resolution 1171 (1998) dated 5 June 1998, and in particular of paragraph 5 which:

 “ Decides that all States shall prevent the entry into or transit through their territories of leading members of the former military junta and of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), as designated by the Committee established by resolution 1132 (1997), provided that the entry into or transit through a particular State of any such person may be authorized by the same Committee, and provided that nothing in this paragraph shall oblige a State to refuse entry to its territory to its own nationals;"