DUTCH BUSINESSMAN ARRESTED ON LIBERIAN SANCTIONS CHARGES
As often is the case, Defence Web has a story not commonly seen elsewhere. It reports that a Dutch businessman convicted in April of selling weapons to ex-Liberian president and warlord Charles Taylor has been arrested in South Africa on a Dutch warrant, officials said. “Blood timber” trader Guus Kouwenhoven, 75, (known in Liberia as “Mister Gus”) was sentenced as an accessory to war crimes for providing arms to Taylor’s government in violation of a UN embargo. He had been living in Cape Town and refused to return to the Netherlands for trial, citing health problems, and so was not present at the trial. He is said to have run 2 timber companies in Liberia 2000-03 and used them to smuggle arms, according to the Dutch court that sentenced him to 19 years in prison.
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