US Lifts Economic Sanctions Against Liberia After Decades

Economic sanctions are now removed against Liberia earlier on Thursday, as President Barack Obama referred to the nation's "tremendous progress" and dedication to democracy since surfacing from the war in 2003, the White House said.

"The United States congratulates the people of Liberia for their determination, ingenuity, and commitment to peace and democracy that has made this possible," National Security Council spokesman Ned Price said in a statement. He said, "Liberia has worked to overcome not only the scars of war but also the challenge of responding to an unprecedented outbreak of Ebola.", as reported by All Africa.

Obama rejected the executive order on Liberia that was placed in July 2004 in answer to the risk set forth to U.S foreign policy during that time by former Liberian President Charles Taylor.

Taylor started the 1989-2003 civil war that caused fatalities of almost 250,000 individuals in Liberia, a country established by ancestors of liberated American slaves. He was sentenced in 2012 for 50 years in jail for committing cruelty in neighboring Sierra Leone during the 1990s civil war.
In September, some sanctions were ended by the U.N. National Security council, including travel ban and freezing the assets of those who impose danger to its stability,according to News Week.

Liberia is now being led by Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, a Nobel Prize winner since 2006. She has worked keenly with the West dealing with the Ebola virus. The former Liberian President will stay in prison for 50 years because of "some of the most heinous crimes in human history" as what judges described it, BBC reported.

Since President Taylor is now in a tight security prison, sanctions are no longer needed according to President Obama.