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Consul Cases: Details of Troubled Diplomats Around the World [1]
['Debbie Cenziper', 'Will Fitzgibbon', 'Eva Herscowitz', 'Nicole Sadek']
Date: 2022-11
Lebanon-born Ali Koleilat, described as a “businessman” in United Nations sanctions lists, served as Liberia’s honorary consul in Brazil. It’s not clear when he started or left his diplomatic post; a European media outlet in 2003 identified him as a consul.
In 2004, the U.N. Security Council sanctioned Koleilat, accusing him of delivering weapons to Liberian president and warlord Charles Taylor before his resignation in 2003. Koleilat was also sanctioned by the European Union and the United States. He was arrested in Belgium in 2014, accused of conspiring to transport cocaine on a plane registered in the United States. Belgian media reported that Koleilat claimed the protection of diplomatic status. He was extradited to the U.S. after intelligence officers discovered that Hezbollah, the Lebanese political party and militant group, planned to secure his release by threatening Belgian prosecutors and others involved in the case, according to interviews and reports. Koleilat pleaded guilty to drug charges this year and was sentenced to time served.
Through his attorney, Koleilat declined to comment. The U.N. sanctions were lifted in 2009 and the European sanctions about a month later. The U.S. sanctions were lifted in 2015.
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[1] Url:
https://www.propublica.org/article/honorary-consuls-shadow-diplomats-profiles
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