{"id":12563,"date":"2022-03-31T15:48:16","date_gmt":"2022-03-31T15:48:16","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1"},"modified":"2022-03-31T16:38:45","modified_gmt":"2022-03-31T16:38:45","slug":"us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1","title":{"rendered":"US Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1"},"content":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Liberia. <\/strong><\/span>A Liberian immigrant living in Philadelphia has been arrested by federal authorities and charged with fraudulently hiding his background as a high-ranking member of a rebel group \u2014 he called himself \u201cDragon Master\u201d \u2014 that is accused of committing atrocities during a Liberian civil war.<\/p>\n

Laye Sekou Camara, 43, of Southwest Philadelphia, is accused of lying about his background in 2011 to obtain a visa to enter the United States and then later to obtain a green card. He was also known as General K1 during the Second Liberian Civil War,<\/p>\n

Camara then allegedly used the green card to falsely characterize his background on a Pennsylvania identification application in 2017, according to a criminal complaint submitted to Magistrate Judge Richard A. Lloret and publicly filed last week. Camara is charged with the use of an immigration document obtained by fraud.<\/p>\n

In news accounts dating back to 2003, during and shortly after the conflict known as the Second Liberian Civil War, prosecutors say Camera is identified as a brigadier general with the rebel faction known as Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy, or LURD.<\/p>\n

Liberia\u2019s first civil war was fought for most of the 1990s and left hundreds of thousands of civilians dead. His faction, LURD, was a group that forced then Liberian President, Charles Taylor out of power during the country\u2019s second civil war in August 2003.<\/p>\n

LURD committed 18,797 or 12% of all atrocities reported to Liberia\u2019s Truth and Reconciliation Commission, during the first and second civil wars, including rape, murder, torture, and looting.<\/p>\n

The numbers are only second to Taylor\u2019s National Patriotic Front of Liberia, NPFL committed during the first war \u2014 63, 843, or 39%, the report added. U. S.<\/p>\n

authorities have led the charge in recent years to bring Liberian war criminals to justice \u2014 particularly in Philadelphia, where thousands of refugees fleeing the conflict were relocated in the 1990s and 2000s.<\/p>\n

In 2018, a federal judge sentenced Mohammed Jabateh, 54, of Lansdowne, to 30 years in prison for hiding his past as a brutal warlord. That same year, a jury convicted Jucontee Thomas Woewiyu \u2014 a past spokesperson for Charles Taylor, a Liberian president later found guilty by an international war-crimes tribunal \u2014 for lying to U.<\/p>\n

S. immigration authorities about his complicity in war crimes committed by Taylor\u2019s regime. He died in 2020 before he could be sentenced. Details of Camara\u2019s arrest were not immediately available.<\/p>\n

He was being held at a federal detention facility in Brooklyn, records show. In the criminal complaint, officials said the investigation began in July.<\/p>\n

The complaint cites a human-rights report published by the U. S. Department of State about the second civil war that identifies \u201cSekou Kamara\u201d as being called General Dragon Master and General K1.<\/p>\n

He is described at the time as \u201cin hiding after he allegedly killed a fellow LURD General known as Black Marine. \u201d The complaint says Camara was identified in a photo of LURD rebels published in the New York Times in 2003.<\/p>\n

He also appears in a 2004 documentary titled Liberia: An Uncivil War. Camara is seen standing behind then-U. S. Ambassador John Blaney. Blaney was interviewed as part of the investigation, and he recalled dealing with Camara and another commander known as General Cobra.<\/p>\n

\u201cAmbassador Blaney stated that General Dragon Master was a high-ranking and active combatant in LURD, which he described as a large and formidable Liberian rebel group engaged in atrocities during Liberia\u2019s Second Civil War, and that General Dragon Master would not be someone who meets visa issuance criteria,\u201d according to the complaint.<\/p>\n

When Camara first applied in 2011 for a visa to enter the United States, he falsely answered that he had never been a member or involved in a paramilitary unit, vigilante group, rebel group, guerrilla, or insurgent organization, the complaint states. That led to Camara obtaining a green card, which he later fraudulently used on the Pennsylvania identification application, the complaint says.<\/p>\n

For More News And Analysis About Liberia<\/a> Follow Africa-Press<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Africa-Press – Liberia. A Liberian immigrant living in Philadelphia has been arrested by federal authorities and charged with fraudulently hiding his background as a high-ranking member of a rebel group \u2014 he called himself \u201cDragon Master\u201d \u2014 that is accused of committing atrocities during a Liberian civil war. Laye Sekou Camara, 43, of Southwest Philadelphia, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":84,"featured_media":12562,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[2,8,12,16],"tags":[233,237,234],"class_list":["post-12563","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-all-news","category-homepage-english","category-policy","category-twitter","tag-africa-press","tag-africa-press-liberia","tag-liberia"],"yoast_head":"\nUS Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1 - Liberia<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"A Liberian immigrant living in Philadelphia has been arrested by federal authorities and charged with fraudulently hidin ...\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"A Liberian immigrant living in Philadelphia has been arrested by federal authorities and charged with fraudulently hidin ...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Liberia\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2022-03-31T15:48:16+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2022-03-31T16:38:45+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/img-6245d8f539464.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1400\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"780\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"cfeditoren\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"3 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"headline\":\"US Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-31T15:48:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-31T16:38:45+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1\"},\"wordCount\":657,\"commentCount\":0,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/img-6245d8f539464.jpg\",\"keywords\":[\"Africa Press\",\"Africa Press-Liberia\",\"Liberia\"],\"articleSection\":[\"all news\",\"homepage-english\",\"policy\",\"twitter\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1\",\"name\":\"US Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1 - Liberia\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#website\"},\"primaryImageOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#primaryimage\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/img-6245d8f539464.jpg\",\"datePublished\":\"2022-03-31T15:48:16+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2022-03-31T16:38:45+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\"},\"description\":\"A Liberian immigrant living in Philadelphia has been arrested by federal authorities and charged with fraudulently hidin ...\",\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#primaryimage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/img-6245d8f539464.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/img-6245d8f539464.jpg\",\"width\":1400,\"height\":780,\"caption\":\"US Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1\"},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"US Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/\",\"name\":\"Liberia\",\"description\":\"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb\",\"name\":\"cfeditoren\",\"image\":{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g\",\"caption\":\"cfeditoren\"}}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO Premium plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"US Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1 - Liberia","description":"A Liberian immigrant living in Philadelphia has been arrested by federal authorities and charged with fraudulently hidin ...","robots":{"index":"index","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"canonical":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1","og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"US Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1","og_description":"A Liberian immigrant living in Philadelphia has been arrested by federal authorities and charged with fraudulently hidin ...","og_url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1","og_site_name":"Liberia","article_publisher":"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/AfricaPressTunisiaa","article_published_time":"2022-03-31T15:48:16+00:00","article_modified_time":"2022-03-31T16:38:45+00:00","og_image":[{"width":1400,"height":780,"url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/img-6245d8f539464.jpg","type":"image\/jpeg"}],"author":"cfeditoren","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"cfeditoren","Est. reading time":"3 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1"},"author":{"name":"cfeditoren","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"headline":"US Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1","datePublished":"2022-03-31T15:48:16+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-31T16:38:45+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1"},"wordCount":657,"commentCount":0,"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/img-6245d8f539464.jpg","keywords":["Africa Press","Africa Press-Liberia","Liberia"],"articleSection":["all news","homepage-english","policy","twitter"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1","name":"US Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1 - Liberia","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#website"},"primaryImageOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#primaryimage"},"image":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#primaryimage"},"thumbnailUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/img-6245d8f539464.jpg","datePublished":"2022-03-31T15:48:16+00:00","dateModified":"2022-03-31T16:38:45+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb"},"description":"A Liberian immigrant living in Philadelphia has been arrested by federal authorities and charged with fraudulently hidin ...","breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1"]}]},{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#primaryimage","url":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/img-6245d8f539464.jpg","contentUrl":"https:\/\/static.africa-press.net\/liberia\/sites\/37\/2022\/03\/img-6245d8f539464.jpg","width":1400,"height":780,"caption":"US Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1"},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/all-news\/us-arrests-liberian-warlord-k-1#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"US Arrests Liberian Warlord K-1"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#website","url":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/","name":"Liberia","description":"Just another Africa News Agency Sites site","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/?s={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/068c7ab4e9634ae78ec5d54ec46598bb","name":"cfeditoren","image":{"@type":"ImageObject","inLanguage":"en-US","@id":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/#\/schema\/person\/image\/","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","contentUrl":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/7417380fa9e23b5c57fdbfdaf3fdf92ee478f759a084addda5faa3732853e74a?s=96&d=mm&r=g","caption":"cfeditoren"}}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12563","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/84"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=12563"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/12563\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/12562"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=12563"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=12563"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.africa-press.net\/liberia\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=12563"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}