Monrovia, Liberia
A European military intelligence report says that Liberian President Charles Taylor took a $1 million bribe to allow al Qaida financiers to operate in his country in the months after Sept. 11. The report, written by investigators from several European countries and obtained by The Washington Post, said senior al Qaida agents came to Liberia to buy up millions of dollars’ worth of diamonds as part of their money-laundering operations. Investigators said one Lebanese diamond company operating in Liberia had a sudden upsurge of $1 billion in business in the year before Sept. 11, and the company’s phone records showed calls to Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iraq, and Iran. President Taylor denies all involvement in diamond smuggling.
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