Monrovia — Liberia and the United States Governments have signed what has been described as a "landmark" agreement that would permit American security forces to board and search any ship under the Liberian flag suspected of carrying weapons of mass destruction (WMD), their delivery systems, or related materials.

According to reports from Washington, the agreement between the two countries was signed February 11, 2004 in Washington.

Liberia has the second largest ship registry in the world with more than 2,000 vessels, and according to a CNN report, one-third of America's imported oil arrives in the United States on Liberia-flagged tankers.

More over, the CNN report indicated that 80 percent of world trade is facilitated through sea transport.

But the worrisome news is that there are "emerging reports", according to CNSNews.com, about al Qaedi cargo ships to carry explosive and operatives around the world.

With this, it is feared that Liberian registered vessels or tankers could be infiltrated to facilitate such internationally illegal shipments due to relaxed security measures.

It is against this background that the Liberian Government has forged a partnership with the American Government to combat illicit shipment of weapons of mass destruction and their delivery systems or related materials.

At the signing ceremony in Washington, the head of Liberia's ship registry, Mr. Yoram Cohen was quoted as saying "the Liberia International Ship and Corporate Registry (LISCR) has always cooperated with, and received support from, the US State Department", adding that, "Given the high level of terrorism alert and awareness which currently exists in the world, we believe it only right that all parties dedicated to eliminating the threat of terrorism should work together in a spirit of transparency and cooperation to that end."

Mr. Cohen also said, "This agreement demonstrates the commitment of the Liberian Registry to transparency, and the confidence we have in the high quality of the owners who use the Liberian Registry", adding that, "With this accord, the US and its allies can feel more secure, and our ships can feel more secure under the US security umbrella."

He then said LISCR was proud of its role in facilitating the agreement between the two Governments and in the trust that has been placed in LISCR as the "Competent Authority in the administration of the practical arrangements for international cooperation".

According to a dispatch from New York, regarding the agreement, a spokesman for the US State Department said, "This is a tangible example of non-proliferation cooperation, which President George Bush advocated in his speech at the National Defense University 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 of transfer of items of proliferation concern."

It can be recalled that President Bush last year launched the Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) to prevent rogue states and terrorists from trading in nuclear, chemical or biological weapons and related technology by stopping and searching suspected ships or planes.

Last week, President Bush reportedly reiterated that the PSI was launched to "interdict lethal materials in transit". He named countries such as France, Germany the United Kingdom, Italy Japan the Netherlands, Spain among others as those in partnership with the United States in this Initiative.

However, the Board and Search Pact between Liberia and the United States is said to be first of its kind. Panama has the largest ship registry but it has no such agreements with the United States. Notwithstanding, the US Government is reportedly seeking similar deals with other unidentified nations.