'Charles Taylor must be tried'

2005-06-01 09:59

Calabar - Wanted on war-crimes charges, Liberia's former President Charles Taylor is keeping out of sight as he nears a second year of exile in a jungle-encircled African city.

His host country, Nigeria, is under increasing pressure to expel the one-time warlord from his all-expenses-paid purgatory and hand him to a United Nations-backed tribunal to be tried on accusations he meddled in another country's civil war - Sierra Leone's. The United States said on Tuesday that "the time has come for this to happen."

Taylor's spokesperson, Vaani Paasawe, denies allegations by the Sierra Leone-based court that Taylor is plotting fresh turmoil in West Africa, where he has long been accused of playing a central role in the region's mayhem.

The UN-backed tribunal has increased calls in recent weeks for Taylor to be immediately handed over for trial, accusing Taylor of violating his asylum agreement by meddling in the affairs of Liberia and its neighbours.

Possible links to al-Qaeda

Prosecutors accuse him of ties to al-Qaeda.

The United States helped arrange Taylor's flight as rebels besieged his capital, Monrovia, in August 2003. Then, the world applauded Nigeria for granting Taylor asylum, saying that was the only way to bring peace to Liberia.

Now, the United States is among those who say Taylor should be extradited.

He said that President Olusegun Obasanjo had not gone far enough by offering to hand Taylor over to Liberia, rather than the court in Sierra Leone, if the government that results from October elections requested it.

The anti-Taylor chorus has heightened its pitch in recent months as the UN-backed court, based in the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown, said it has new evidence showing Taylor was behind a January attempt to assassinate Guinea President Lansana Conte - himself accused of backing the rebels that fought against Taylor.

The war crimes court accuses Taylor of backing rebels notorious for hacking off hands and arms in the 1991-2002 Sierra Leone civil war, allegations Taylor denies.

After assassinating Conte, Taylor hoped to relocate to Guinea, where he is already forming a new rebel group, the court says.

Sierra Leone's government would be attacked next, and the war crimes court "disrupted," according to an internal document, which says all this is scheduled to take place by the time of Liberia's October 11 presidential elections.

Sierra Leone for the first time last week called for Taylor to be handed to the war crimes tribunal.

Taylor triggered Liberia's descent into violence when he launched an insurgency from neighbouring Ivory Coast in 1989.

The peace deal under which Taylor left Liberia brought an end to 14 years of conflict, in which an estimated 250 000 died.

- AP