Pact frees US navy to search ships for terror weapons

Sailors from the United States Navy may board thousands of commercial ships in international waters to search for weapons of mass destruction, under a landmark pact reached this week between the US and Liberia, the world’s No 2 shipping registry.

The accord – expected to become a model as Washington seeks other two-country deals authorising searches on the high seas – comes amid persistent fears that terror networks would use ships for attacks, taking advantage of comparatively lax security on the waters after the crackdown in the skies following the terror attacks of September 11, 2001.