U.N. REPORT SAYS LIBERIA USED REGISTER EARNINGS TO BUY ARMS

U.N. REPORT SAYS LIBERIA USED REGISTER EARNINGS TO BUY ARMS    An internal United Nations report charges that the American-owned Liberian Corporate & Maritime Shipping Register (LISCR), based in Tysons Corner, Va., has assisted Liberia’s president Charles Taylor in buying weapons, directly violating a U.N. arms embargo.
   The 135-page report to the U.N.’s sanctions committee cites four instances in 2000 when LISCR made payments to non-governmental accounts. Taylor allegedly used money from the accounts to aid rebels in Sierra Leone. Two of the payments, totaling $925,000, were made through San Air General Trading, a bank in the United Arab Emirates.
   Yoram Cohen, LISCR’s chief executive, admitted that payments were made initially but then ceased after LISCR became “uncomfortable” doing so. The Liberian government “requested and required” the payments, Cohen told The Wall Street Journal. “It’s not our job to conduct any due diligence as to whom we pay the money — it’s the government’s money,” he explained, adding that LISCR “never knowingly” paid an arms dealer.