Monrovia — The first of several individuals to be convicted of crimes related to Liberia's brutal civil war is the Dutch business magnate Gus van Kouwenhoven.

A Dutch court yesterday found the 63-year old timber merchant guilty of breaking a UN arms embargo on Liberia.

He was sentenced to eight years in prison but was acquitted of war crimes charges.

The court said it could not gather sufficient evidence to prove that the Dutchman, who ran a chain of businesses, including the Hotel Africa in Liberia, had any links to any of the many atrocities committed during Liberia's 14-year civil war.

He was persistently reported to have sold weapons to ex-President Charles Taylor. In return, van Kouwenhoven allegedly received logging concessions.

A BBC report said during the three-week trial, prosecutors demanded a 20-year prison sentence and a fine of 450,000 euros ($575,000; £310,000).

He denied the charges and his lawyers said prosecution witnesses were paid.

Prosecutors wanted a fine because of the profits he allegedly made through his companies - the Royal Timber Company and Oriental Timber Corporation.

During Liberia's civil war, the lobby group Global Witness successfully campaigned for UN sanctions to be imposed on the country's exports of "blood timber".

'Inner circle'

According to a UN report submitted to The Hague, van Kouwenhoven, known in Liberia as "Mr Gus," formed part of Charles Taylor's "inner circle."

"Militias formed by the Dutchman's timber companies are alleged to have participated in massacres of civilians where even babies were not spared," a prosecution statement said.

"The weapons used by the militias to commit these war crimes are alleged to have been supplied by the Dutchman."

But the court ruled that: "The evidence was insufficient to show factual involvement and knowledge" by Kouwenhoven in the commission of war crimes.

Charles Taylor launched a rebellion in Liberia in 1989, before eventually being elected president in 1997.

He soon faced accusations of diamond smuggling and arms dealing on behalf of rebels in neighboring Sierra Leone.

From 1999 Liberia descended once more into civil war as rebels mounted a campaign to oust the president, who went into exile in 2003.

Mr Taylor was arrested earlier this year and may also end up on trial in The Hague.

Meanwhile, Green Advocates has applauded the decision of the Dutch Government to arrest, prosecute and convict the long-time business associate of former president Taylor, Gus Kouwenhoven of breaking UN arms embargo on Liberia. "The arms Gus imported into Liberia were used to commit war crimes and crimes against humanity," the advocates said.

Gus Kouwenhoven was President and owner of the Oriental Timber Corporation (OTC). He was arrested in March 2005 in Rotterdam; his various luxury enclaves in Paris were searched and was charged with violating the United Nations arms embargo.

On July 1, he was arraigned before the Dutch Court for preliminary hearings into his case. The Dutchman's presence in Liberia spans more than a decade with links to several tyrannical regimes beginning with Samuel Doe and ending with Taylor Taylor's vicious political empire.