UNITED NATIONS, July 7 (Xinhua) -- Despite steady progress towards lasting peace, military coups and organized crime such as drug trafficking pose key threat to the security in West Africa, the top UN envoy to the region said Tuesday.

    Said Djinnit, special representative of the secretary-general and head of the UN Office in West Africa (UNOWA), told the Security Council that West Africa's determination to "decisively" tackle its problems "have led to an important reduction in the scope and the level of violence across the sub-region."

    He urged the 15-member council to help strengthen the rule of law in the subregion as the best way to reduce political instability and the threats posed by drug trafficking and organized crime.

    The UN envoy emphasized that the significant progress achieved in West Africa remained "extremely fragile" as the root causes of conflict and instability persisted.

    Indeed, that progress was reversible in some cases, as illustrated by the recent democratic setback in Mauritania, the prevailing crisis in the Niger and other looming crises, he said.

    Moreover, emerging challenges, including terrorist activities in the Sahel, piracy in the Gulf of Guinea, governance, drug trafficking and organized crime jeopardized ongoing peace efforts in the subregion, he said.

    Along with the troubling resurgence of unconstitutional or violent changes of government, he said that drug trafficking was perhaps the subregion's most prominent security threat.

    Indeed, West Africa had emerged as an important transit route for the trafficking of drugs, especially cocaine, from Latin America to Europe, he noted.

    Trafficking networks were taking advantage of the weaknesses of West African States, including porous borders, an abundance of unemployed youths, widespread corruption and poverty, he added.