Leaders discuss Taylor's asylum
2005-05-06 11:48
Washington - Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo defended his country's extension of political asylum to a former Liberian president accused of war crimes, while expressing hope after a meeting with US President George W Bush that some arrangement could be reached to ensure justice.
Both Obasanjo and White House officials on Thursday emphasized the delicacy of the situation, noting Charles Taylor's exile to Nigeria in 2003 helped end bloodshed in Liberia.
Taylor has been indicted by the war crimes court for Sierra Leone on 17 counts of war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of humanitarian law for arming and supporting Sierra Leone's rebels.
British lawyer Desmond de Silva, who will be taking over as chief prosecutor for the tribunal in July, made a renewed call on Thursday for Taylor to be handed over for trial, calling the Liberian a "monster of evil".
On Tuesday, the day before Obasanjo's arrival in the US, the House approved a resolution 421-1 demanding Taylor be turned over to the court by Nigeria.
Obasanjo said: "Nobody should, of course, condone any crime that anybody has committed no matter how highly placed." But, he added, "We must not forget the circumstances under which Charles Taylor was brought to Nigeria by the leaders of Africa."
In 2003, Obasanjo offered Taylor protection in his country in exchange for a promise by the warlord-turned-president to leave Liberia. The gesture was praised by Bush and many other world leaders at the time.
Obasanjo also discussed the Taylor issue at a separate meeting with US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice.
"We and the Nigerians both agree he should not be interfering in any way in Liberia's internal affairs and shouldn't undermine democracy there and should face justice," said State Department spokesman Richard Boucher.
Taylor could be kicked out of Nigeria if he is found interfering in his homeland's politics. Officials at the war crimes court in Sierra Leona say they have evidence not only that Taylor has continued playing a role in Liberian politics, but was behind an attempt in January to assassinate Guinea President Lansana Conte, a longtime Taylor foe.
Other issues on the agenda
Bush and Obasanjo also talked about global oil supplies and prices. Obasanjo said his country, the world's seventh largest oil exporter with an output of 2.5 million barrels a day, wants "stability and security of supply".
"Nigeria alone, by itself, cannot bring price down," Obasanjo said. "We have to work together in the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec)."
Bush and Obasanjo — chair of the African Union (AU)— also discussed the AU's decision to more than triple the size of its peacekeeping force in Sudan's western Darfur region, where UN officials say two years of fighting has created one of the world's worst humanitarian crises.
- AP