Information on this subject was obtained in a telephone interview on 12 December 1995 with an official at Liberian consulate in New York.

According to the official, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued Liberian passports at its office in Monrovia in 1992. The official stated that Liberian passports are signed by one of the following officials: Minister for Foreign Affairs, Deputy Minister for Foreign Affairs or the Acting Minister.

Between 1990 and February 1994 the minister was Baccus Matthews and since March 1994, D. Musulleng Cooper. The source also explained that the following officials have also signed passports as either deputy or acting minister: Sonii Sherman, Lloyd Kennedy, George Wallace, Mohammed Keita, Sylvester Grigsby and Mohammed Kaba. With the exception of Sonii Sherman, who left the ministry in February 1994, all of the other officials continue to have passport-signing responsibilities.

In a subsequent telephone interview on 15 December 1995, the same official at the Liberian consulate in New York stated that Alfred Quaye was the acting consul general in New York in 1993.

This Response was prepared after researching publicly accessible information currently available to the DIRB within time constraints. This Response is not, and does not purport to be, conclusive as to the merit of any particular claim to refugee status or asylum.

Consulate of the Republic of Liberia, New York. 12 December 1995. Telephone interview with an official.

_____. 15 December 1995. Telephone interview with an official.