Charles Taylor still feared

2006-03-31 20:38

Freetown - Sierra Leoneans are glad to see Africa's most notorious war crimes suspect, ex-Liberian leader Charles Taylor, behind bars, but fear his presence could trigger more violence and would prefer to see him tried abroad.

The former warlord was flown, handcuffed and surrounded by United Nations peacekeepers, to the special court for Sierra Leone on Wednesday, after nearly three years in exile, to face war crimes charges over his role in the country's 1991-2002 civil war.

The UN-backed court has asked the Netherlands to hold the trial in The Hague, citing fears that keeping him in Sierra Leone could provoke unrest as well as in neighbouring Liberia, where supporters have threatened trouble if he appears in court.

"We don't want Charles Taylor in this place. He's a serious war criminal. There is no place for him in Sierra Leone," said Abubakarr Sapatah, 38, an off-duty security guard in the centre of the capital.

"We've just come from war. He still has supporters in Sierra Leone as well as in Liberia and the Ivory Coast. We're worried they'll try to help him," said Sapatah, who lost a sister and brother in the war and saw Taylor-backed rebels hack the arms off two of his friends.

Taylor was flown to Sierra Leone by UN peacekeepers based in Liberia and put into a cell block next to the courthouse guarded by a dozen blue-helmeted Mongolian UN guards.

Armed Sierra Leonean police patrol the barbed wire fence around the compound and a rapid reaction force of several hundred Irish and Swedish U.N. peacekeepers are on standby in Liberia.

- Reuters