Liberia Used Shipping Payments To Buy Arms, U.N. Panel Finds
Staff Reporter of The Wall Street journal
Wednesday,
October
24,
2001
(The
Wall
Street
Journal)
-
The
Liberian
Corporate
&
Maritime
Shipping
Registry
of
Tysons
Corner,
Va.,
has
helped
Liberia's
president,
Charles
Taylor,
procure
weapons
in
violation
of
a
United
Nations
arms
embargo.
The
little-noticed
role
of
the
world's
No.
2
shipping
registry,
known
as
LISCR,
is
detailed
in
a
United
Nations
report
to
be
presented
tomorrow
to
the
U.N.'s
sanctions
committee.
The
registry,
run
and
owned
by
U.S.
citizens,
is
the
Liberian
government's
largest
source
of
revenue.
The
maritime
aspects
of
the
135-page
report
are
part
of
a
look
at
Liberia's
compliance
with
international
regulations.
The
Security
Council
is
to
decide
next
month
whether
to
extend
sanctions
on
arms
and
diamonds
and
whether
to
impose
new
ones
on
the
country's
timber
and
rubber
exports,
and
registered
ships.
(The
sanctions
are
aimed
at
halting
Liberia's
support
for
rebels
in
Sierra
Leone.)
The
report
cites
four
instances
in
which
LISCR
last
year
made
payments
to
nongovernmental
accounts.
Two
payments,
totaling
$925,000,
were
made
to
San
Air
General
Trading
(through
a
bank
in
the
United
Arab
Emirates)
for
arms
and
transportation
"in
violation
of
the
sanctions,"
the
report
said.
In
August
2000,
following
another
request
from
Liberia
for
nongovernmental
payments,
LISCR
said
it
would
no
longer
do
so.
While
the
panel
that
produced
the
report
said
the
registry
"showed
a
complete
lack
of
due
diligence"
in
making
the
four
payments,
it
said
LISCR
appears
to
have
stopped
the
practice.
Yoram
Cohen,
chief
executive
of
the
registry,
acknowledged
it
"was
requested
and
required
by
the
government"
to
make
the
payments
to
nongovernment
accounts,
saying
that
by
mid-August
LISCR
had
become
"uncomfortable"
with
the
practice.
He
said
LISCR
"never
knowingly
made
a
payment
to
an
arms
dealer,"
but
added:
"It's
not
our
job
to
conduct
any
due
diligence
as
to
whom
we
pay
money
--
it's
the
government's
money."
Lami
Kawah,
Liberia's
ambassador
to
the
U.N.,
said
he
"wasn't
aware
that
Liberia
had
made
payments
to
purchase
arms."
After
LISCR
rebuffed
the
requests
by
the
Bureau
of
Maritime
Affairs
last
year,
the
agency
used
some
of
its
share
of
the
maritime
revenue
to
pay
San
Air,
the
report
said.
The
U.N.
report
recommends
the
Security
Council
set
up
an
escrow
account
for
revenue
generated
by
LISCR,
to
be
audited
by
Liberia's
government
and
the
International
Monetary
Fund.
Some
members
of
the
panel
say
privately
that
the
success
of
the
U.N.-imposed
diamond
embargo
in
Liberia
has
cut
diamond
smuggling
so
much
that
Liberia
is
turning
to
its
timber
and
maritime
enterprises
to
fund
regional
conflicts.
Last
year,
LISCR
generated
revenue
of
almost
$44
million,
providing
the
government
with
roughly
$18
million.