In the wake of the trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor in The Hague for war crime and crime against humanity, report gathered in 2001 revealed that revenues from the Liberian cargo and cruise ship registry have been used to buy weapons for Taylor's army in violation of a United Nations arms embargo, according to a UN Panel report.
The U.N. report characterized the Liberian registry as "little more than a cash extraction operation and a cover from which to fund and organize opaque off-budget expenditures, including for sanction busting."
The report was equally critical of Benoni Urey, Liberia's commissioner of maritime affairs at the time , and the Virginia-based Liberia International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR), which administers the Liberian flag of convenience, for "a complete lack of due diligence" in accepting inappropriate payment instructions from the Liberian government run by Charles Taylor.
"For as long as there is an arms embargo against Liberia , funds from the registry will need to be protected from bureau misuse," the report said.
The report recommended that an escrow account be established under control of the U.N. Security Council's sanctions committee "as the ultimate destination for all revenues generated by the ship and corporate registry."
The Liberia International Ship and Corporate Registry funneled $18 million a year to the Taylor government in Monrovia , the Liberian capital. The vessel income accounts for 25 percent of the country's revenues.
According to the report, the LISCR made four payments to non-government accounts in June 2000 and July 2000 on the instructions of Urey's agency. The payments included the separate transfers of $525,000 and $400,000 to an account in a bank in the United Arab Emirates . "These two payments were for arms and transport in violation of the sanctions," the report said.
The LISCR later refused to make payments other than to the Liberian government. But, the report said, Urey "changed strategy," moving the money from Liberian accounts to the bank in the UAE through the personal account of Sanjivan Ruprah, identified by the U.N. as an arms dealer known to have held a Liberian diplomatic passport as deputy commissioner of maritime affairs. Urey has denied knowing Ruprah.
Earlier in London , that year, International Transport Workers Federation Seafarers' Section Secretary Jon Whitlow told the International Shipping Federation that the Taylor regime had brought renewed infamy to the Liberian registry, in part by using ship registry revenues to support brutal insurgents in neighboring Sierra Leone . Liberia 's support for the Sierra Leone rebels was the reason the U.N. imposed the arms embargo.
The Liberian flag of convenience is the world's second-largest behind the Panamanian registry. Liberia hosts 1,734 vessels totaling 59 million gross tons. The Liberian-flag fleet includes 35 percent of the world's tanker tonnage.
In a related development, The Washington Post reported in its Nov. 2 editions that year that known terrorist leader Osama bin Laden "has reaped millions of dollars in the past three years from the illicit sale of diamonds mined by rebels in Sierra Leone ." The Post report cited " U.S. and European intelligence officials and two sources with direct knowledge of events."
According to the Post report by Douglas Farah, diamond dealers working with persons identified by the Federal Bureau of Investigation as agents of bin Laden's worldwide al-Qaeda network "bought gems from the rebels at below-market prices and sold them for large profits in Europe ."
In July, the diamond dealers began buying larger quantities than usual at premium prices, a "strong indication" that al-Qaeda was anticipating a freeze on its assets after the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the Pentagon and New York City's World Trade Center. Diamond holdings are difficult to trace, the report said.
The Post report said that, in such transactions, the diamonds are often smuggled from Sierra Leone across the Liberian border to Monrovia . There, "at a safe house protected by the Liberian government," the diamonds are exchanged for "briefcases of cash brought by diamond dealers who fly several times a month from Belgium to Monrovia , where they are escorted by state security through customs and immigration control." |
