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Illegal Arms Found in Liberia
UN weapons experts in Liberia have revealed a cache of armaments imported into the country during the final days of President Charles Taylor’s rule in violation of a UN Security Council arms embargo.
The armaments were uncovered Nov. 1 after Jacques Paul Klein, the special representative of the UN Secretary-General for Liberia ordered the inspection of a 40-foot container previously immobilized by Nigerian troops. Two members of the UN Panel of Experts, Atabou Bodian and Damian Callamand, were also present as Klein took steps to carry out Security Council Resolution 1478, passed on May 6, which extended a two-year-old arms embargo on Liberia.
Resolution 1478 also created the Panel of Experts “to monitor the arms embargo and take stock of all evidence available, including the origin of the weapons,” said Bodian, the panel’s chairman. To aid the panel, Resolution 1478 directs Liberia and its surrounding West African neighbors to supply information regarding any aircraft or vessel used to transport weapons during the ongoing embargo.
According to Callamand, the panel has “continued to receive reports of brokers making deliveries of weapons to Liberia and violating the arms embargo. This seizure is the first time real evidence of an arms shipment has been discovered.” No member of the panel elaborated on the origin of the weapons, and it is unclear whether at this time the panel is receiving active cooperation from Liberia or its neighbors.
Among the items found were two 60-millimeter mortars, 149 boxes of mortar ammunition, 67 boxes of rocket-propelled grenades, and 299 boxes of AK-47 rifles accompanied by 699,000 rounds of ammunition.