'No bounty on Taylor's head'
2003-11-13 10:42
Washington - The US State Department said on Wednesday it would not offer a bounty for the arrest of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, rebuffing Congress which had allocated $2m to be used as a reward for information leading to his arrest.
The reward, which was quietly included in an $87.5bn supplemental budget for Iraq and Afghanistan that President George W Bush signed into law last week, had provoked a storm of protest in Nigeria where Taylor is currently living in exile.
"This appropriated reward money is an additional tool at our disposal to be used as it may become necessary," said Tom Casey, a department spokesperson, stressing that the United States would never encourage private bounty hunters.
"We strongly oppose any violent or other illegal action against Nigerian authorities aimed at obtaining custody of Charles Taylor," he said.
Taylor, who has been indicted by a UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone, agreed to step down as Liberia's president in August to quell his country's worsening civil war and accepted a Nigerian offer of exile.
Although the United States has said repeatedly that Taylor should face the tribunal's charges, it has stopped short of demanding that Nigeria, which offered him safe haven, turn him over to the court.
Hence, news of the cryptically worded reward in apparently unrelated US legislation on Iraq and Afghanistan caught Nigeria by surprise, particularly as a British-based "private military company" reportedly offered to kidnap Taylor for $2m before he went into exile.
State-sponsored terrorism
Nigeria angrily said it would not give in to intimidation from anyone, with one aide to President Olesegun Obasanjo telling the BBC that the reward came close to "state-sponsored terrorism."
Casey said US officials would continue to consult with Nigerian authorities about Taylor, who is now living under heavy guard in a luxury villa in the southeastern port city of Calaba.
"Taylor's whereabouts are known, he is under the control of the Nigerian government," he said. "At this time, we are continuing to consult with the government of Nigeria on the issue of holding Taylor accountable for his actions.
"If Taylor were to go into hiding, then we would consider a campaign to use this reward money," Casey said.
Taylor is wanted by the court to answer charges of arming and training rebels from Sierra Leone's notorious Revolutionary United Front, which is accused of raping and dismembering thousands of people during a 10-year civil war that claimed 200 000 lives.