Singapore freezes Taylor out
2004-05-14 10:43
Singapore - Singapore is moving to freeze any assets in the city state belonging to the former president of Liberia, a newspaper reported on Friday.
Ousted dictator Charles Taylor is widely seen as the mastermind behind years of conflict in West Africa. He has been accused of financing Sierra Leone's rebel guerrillas and profiting from the illegal sale of diamonds.
The Monetary Authority of Singapore (MAS) would neither confirm nor deny whether it had received any information from banks about funds or suspicious transactions linked to the deposed dictator, who is now in exile in Nigeria.
Regulations on the seizure of Taylor's assets came into effect last Friday and apply to all financial institutions in Singapore.
They are in line with a UN Security Council (UNSC) resolution passed in March calling on all countries to freeze assets belonging to Taylor and his immediate family members.
"We will generally not comment or provide information on any specific response received following the issuance of regulations, since this may compromise any follow-up action which might have to be taken by the UN or local agencies," the MAS said in a statement to the Streats newspaper, a free commuter tabloid.
A UN report in 2001 linked Singapore-registered Borneo Jaya Pte Ltd to weapons smuggling in Liberia, according to Streats.
Another Singapore-registered company, Natuna Holdings, was named by UK-based environmental protection group Global Witness as being linked to Liberian timber interests.
"Singapore takes a very serious view of any violations of UNSC sanctions and is committed to the implementations of UNSC decisions," the Ministry of Foreign Affairs told Streats.
The ministry said it has been in contact with the Panel of Experts established by the Liberia Sanctions Committee and the Sanctions Committee itself.
"We have yet to receive sufficiently specific information to assist in our investigations," the ministry said. - Sapa-dpa
- SAPA