Mr. Speaker, as the hon. member properly points out, the serious situation in Liberia has become even more extreme. The hoped for settlement was shattered this weekend by a major disruption and the emergence of a new conflict.
The United Nations is seized with the matter. UN peacekeepers are still in the area and are attempting to restore order. All we can offer at this time is the strongest encouragement and support for the negotiations to take place.
Because it is such a troubled situation and there are so many factions now in conflict, one cannot be overly optimistic other than to say that we support every initiative in Liberia by the United Nations at the present time. We certainly hope for and support the efforts being made to bring about negotiations in the next two or three days.