"Officials say the announcement proves the effectiveness of coordination
between government agencies to track the finances of complicated criminal
networks. Victor Bout's business empire comprises airline companies located
in several African countries, including Equatorial Guinea, the Central
African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and the Gambia.
Royce said these companies serve as "facilitators" in Bout's illegal
activities."

Folks, here is proof yet again, that the criminals in Jammeh and Jobe were
in partnership with Charles Taylor and Victor Bout.  So, if Bout has an
airplane in the Gambia, then who owns "Mellineum Airline", Jammeh or Bout?
Jammeh, from his own big mouth told all Gambians the the aircraft is his.
If we wondered why Baba Jobe was quickly railroaded, here in lies part of
the answer.  This also shows the link to the Gambia, with "Blood Diamonds",
Arms trafficking, and Money Laundering, all relating to Bout's empire.

Gambians, this did not come from any of us that acknowledged the criminal
that is Jammeh, but it came from a credible third party sources, US and UN.
All these are going to be highlighted when NADD is at full trottle.  Folks,
there is no turning back.  We are going to bring this crook down and we are
going to offer him to the UN tribunal for working with Bout, Taylor, and
Sanko to destroy Sierra Leone.  Please read on.




U.S. Raises the Stakes on Charles Taylor


allAfrica.com

April 28, 2005
Posted to the web April 28, 2005

François Gouahinga
Washington, DC

The United States government is taking steps to increase pressure on
high-level individuals who are suspected of fueling conflict in Liberia and
Sierra Leone during the last decade, a senior House Republican and Treasury
Department official said Wednesday.

Members of the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Treasury
Department are targeting the former Liberian President, Charles Taylor, as
well as Victor Bout, a businessman accused of arms trafficking in Africa,
Rep. Ed Royce (R-California) and Assistant Treasury Secretary Juan Zarate
said during a joint briefing at Treasury headquarters.


The revelation came a day after the U.S. Treasury Department announced that
it had identified 30 companies and four people linked to Bout. Their assets
will be frozen and it is now illegal for U.S. citizens to do business with
them.

Bout owns a network of air cargo companies and has been accused of using his
airplanes to deliver shipments of guns and ammunition to countries in
conflict - often in violation of UN arms embargos.

Taylor was singled out in a resolution introduced into the U.S. House of
Representatives April 12 calling for Nigeria's government to extradite him
to the Special Court for Sierra Leone on charges of war crimes.

Taylor and Bout are said to have worked together during the conflict in
Sierra Leone, where diamonds provided a substantial incentive for illegal
arms trade. Liberia, which Taylor controlled at the time, provided the
conduit for arms to enter Sierra Leone and diamonds to exit.

The resolution - which has been referred to the House Committee on
International Relations - was sponsored by Royce and four colleagues, and
calls upon the Nigerian government "to transfer Charles Ghankay Taylor,
former President of the Republic of Liberia, to the Special Court for Sierra
Leone to be tried for war crimes, crimes against humanity, and other serious
violations of international humanitarian law."

Royce added that Taylor, who currently lives in Nigeria as part of a
U.S.-brokered deal that ended Liberia's civil war in 2003, has been
reluctant to comply with the terms of his peaceful ouster agreement, under
which he was offered exile on condition that he refrain from further
involvement in Liberian affairs. Taylor "continues to interfere," Royce
said.

Taylor has been charged with seventeen counts of "war crimes, crimes against
humanity, and other violations of international humanitarian law" for his
role in fueling the crisis in Sierra Leone by giving the rebel Revolutionary
United Front (RUF) arms, supplies and logistical support.

Royce said prosecutors have assembled enough evidence to convince Nigerian
President Olusegun Obasanjo to extradite Taylor.

"With mounting evidence, it'll be easier to convince Nigeria," he said. "The
evidence is there, and will be presented to President Obasanjo. There's a
clear blueprint of those who worked for Taylor, and these people are willing
to cooperate."

Taylor violated the terms of his asylum agreement with Nigeria by traveling
to Burkina Faso in February to meet with a political ally, Francis Galawulo,
who recently announced his candidacy for Liberia's presidency, according to
documents from the Special Court for Sierra Leone obtained by the Financial
Times. Taylor also masterminded the January assassination attempt on Guinean
President President Lansana Conté, said David Crane, chief prosecutor of the
Special Court.

Assistant Secretary Zarate said that although the U.S. government does not
have jurisdiction over crimes committed in Liberia, it has obligations as a
member of the UN Security Council, "and we take these obligations very
seriously."

Action by the Treasury Department was prompted by Executive Order 13448,
issued in July 2004, in which President George W. Bush declared the Liberian
crisis a "national emergency" for the United States, Zarate said.

Officials say the announcement proves the effectiveness of coordination
between government agencies to track the finances of complicated criminal
networks. Victor Bout's business empire comprises airline companies located
in several African countries, including Equatorial Guinea, the Central
African Republic, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Uganda, and the Gambia.
Royce said these companies serve as "facilitators" in Bout's illegal
activities.

Zarate said arrest warrants for Bout have already been issued by Belgium and
the Central African Republic. He also said that the United States is
confident that "a strong cooperation with the UN and our partners abroad" is
forthcoming.

Relevant Links

West Africa
Human Rights
Arms and Military Affairs
Crime and Corruption
Legal and Judicial Affairs
United States, Canada and Africa
Liberia
Post-Conflict Challenges



Royce added that Bout, a long-time supplier of UNITA during the conflict in
Angola, is a "chief sanction-buster" whose illegal activities have already
been denounced by the UN.

Because of Bout's abilities to operate under the radar, Zarate said it is
difficult to know all of the countries where he has traded arms. He has been
linked to two airlines in Côte d'Ivoire and Uganda, although officials have
no proof that his arms have fueled conflicts there. "It is fair to assume
that he might be implicated in these conflicts as well," Mr. Zarate said.

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