President Barack Obama lifted U.S. sanctions on Liberia Thursday.
White House spokesman Ned Price cited what he calls Liberia's "tremendous progress" since emerging from civil war in 2003, including its commitment to democracy and development of political and economic institutions, - The Voice of America reports.
"Liberia has worked to overcome not only the scars of war but also the challenge of responding to an unprecedented outbreak of Ebola at a time when Liberians were in the middle of the vital work of consolidating democracy, building their economy, investing in infrastructure and strengthening their security services'', Price said.
But the White House says much remains to be done in Liberia, including transferring security responsibilities from a U.N. mission to Liberian forces next year, and a presidential election in 2017.