‘General Dragon Master’ of Liberian Civil War Arrested in U.S.

A gentleman accused of committing atrocities in the course of the 2nd Liberian Civil War, when he was recognized as “Common Dragon Grasp,” has been arrested by federal authorities in Pennsylvania.

Laye Sekou Camara was charged with employing a fraudulently obtained immigration document, according to a prison criticism filed in the U.S. District Court for the Japanese District of Pennsylvania previous week. Whilst applying for a non-immigrant visa in 2011, Camara allegedly claimed he experienced “by no means been a member of or included with a paramilitary unit, vigilante device, rebel team, guerrilla group or insurgent group.”

Even so, in accordance to an affidavit from a Division of Homeland Protection (DHS) investigator incorporated in the grievance, Camara was a top member of the rebel team Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, or LURD, which has been accused of committing atrocities, like the massacre of civilians, throughout the 1999-2003 war in Liberia.

“In actuality, he was a higher-position member of the LURD rebel group through Liberia’s Second Civil War,” the investigator stated of Camara, according to a duplicate of the grievance presented to Newsweek by Seamus Hughes, deputy director of the Program on Extremism at George Washington University.

The complaint cites a 2004 Condition Section report that asserts Camara was also known as “Sekou KAMARA” and “K1,” in addition to “Dragon Grasp.” At the time, Camara was “in hiding following he allegedly killed a fellow LURD Typical recognized as Black Maritime,” according to the report.

Just after allegedly falsely acquiring a visa to enter the state, Camara afterwards obtained a eco-friendly card on the very same pretenses, which he went on to use on an software to Pennsylvania’s Department of Transportation in 2017. Camara had been dwelling in southwest Philadelphia right before his arrest, in accordance to The Philadelphia Inquirer.

Pennsylvania’s Office environment of Attorney Basic, DHS, and other federal businesses launched an investigation into Camara in July of final calendar year. He was not the initial alleged former Liberian war criminal to be investigated on immigration fraud fees.

In 2017, Mohammed Jabbateh, also recognized as “Jungle Jabbateh,” was convicted on costs of falsely acquiring immigration files. He was a notorious warlord accused of atrocities committed in the course of the To start with Liberian Civil War. Jabbateh, who experienced also been dwelling in Pennsylvania, was afterwards sentenced to 30 many years in prison.

Liberia’s 1st Civil War, from 1989 to 1997, left hundreds of hundreds dead, which includes a substantial variety of civilians. Forces led by Charles Taylor executed the previous Liberian President Samuel Doe in 1990, in advance of heading to battle for command of the nation in a fight with numerous other rebel groups. The war finished when Taylor was elected Liberian president in 1997.

Rebel teams waging the 2nd Civil War hoped to take out Taylor, who resigned from office in August 2003 just in advance of a peace settlement ended the war. Taylor was later on convicted in intercontinental legal courtroom of multiple war crimes and sentenced to 50 yrs in prison.

Newsweek attained out to DHS and the Embassy of Liberia in Washington, D.C., for remark.