The UN peacekeepers in Liberia could start a gradual withdrawal in 2008 if the situation there remained picking up, Alan Doss, the top UN envoy to Liberia, said Monday.

Doss said the current "consolidation phase" was expected to last until the end of 2007, and "we will then move into a gradual drawdown phase" if all went well.

However, Doss warned that the peaceful situation "remains fragile."

"This is a country that's just emerging from a quarter of a century of growing instability that culminated in a 14-year civil war. And that's not going to be overcome in a few months," he told a press conference after reporting the local situation to the Security Council.

The UN has deployed about 15,000 peacekeeping troops in the war-devastated western African country.

He praised the improvement achieved by Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf who took power in January.

Meanwhile, Doss said, "The president has been in office for barely eight months, so we have to be cautiously optimistic as we move forward."

He said security was the primary concern and measures should be taken to "deal robustly if threats emerge within the country or externally."

Also, reported violation of UN export embargoes by international aid workers needed to be addressed, he noted.

The UN slapped sanctions on the government led by former President Charles Taylor. The embargoes have been partly removed, but a ban on diamond export remained in force.

Source: Xinhua