Liberia Joins Initiative to Interdict WMD Cargo

The U.S. State Department announced today that the United States and Liberia have signed an agreement to help facilitate the Proliferation Security Initiative, a U.S.-led international effort to interdict shipments of WMD-related cargo (see GSN, Feb. 2). 

The agreement, signed Wednesday, provides authority on a bilateral basis to board naval vessels suspected of carrying WMD-related cargo, the State Department said. The agreement is modeled on those used in counternarcotics efforts.

“Liberia has the world’s second largest ship registry and this agreement sends a strong signal to proliferators that the United States and Liberia will not allow the use of their vessels for the transport or transfer of items of proliferation concern,” the State Department said in a press statement (U.S. State Department release, Feb. 13).

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