Liberia grants U.S. search authority on registered vessels

Liberia grants U.S. search authority on registered vessels    The U.S. Navy will be able to stop and board Liberian-registered vessels on the high seas after Liberia agreed to let the United States and other partner nations stop and search ships suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction, the State Department said.
   The Bush administration organized the Proliferation Security Initiative last May to get at the growing problem of missile, nuclear and chemical weapons and material proliferation, and keep those devices out of the hands of terrorists. More than a dozen nations are working to coordinate intelligence, naval and law enforcement operations and develop legal parameters for the appropriate use of interdiction methods.
   Gaining authority from Liberia to board ships is important because the country has the world’s second largest ship registry.