BNW

 

Biafra Nigeria World News & Archives

 

BNW News and Archives

 

 

BNW: the Authority on BiafraNigeria

BNW Magazine 

Biafra Nigeria World Forums and Message Board

 BNW News Archive

BNW Home

 

BNW Writer's Block

 WaZoBia @ BNW

Biafra Net

 Igbo Net

Africa World and BNW Africa 

Submit Article for Publication

BiafraNigeria Spacer

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

Flag of Biafra Nigeria

 

BNW News Archives

BNW News Archive 2002-January 2005

BNW News Archive 2005

BNW News Archive 2005 and Later

 

BiafraNigeriaWorld News: Weblogs Edition @ Blog Continent


« Fasehun collapses in court | Main | Milosevic Buried in Home Town; Family absent »

March 19, 2006

Liberia seeks end to Taylor exile

Liberia has formally asked Nigeria to extradite former Liberian President Charles Taylor.

A spokeswoman for Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said he would put the request to other African leaders.

A UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone wants to put Mr Taylor on trial for backing Sierra Leone rebels.

He stood down as Liberian leader and went into exile in Nigeria in 2003 under an international deal to end Liberia's 14-year civil war.

Liberian Information Minister Johnny McClain told the BBC that if the request was granted, Mr Taylor would be sent straight to Sierra Leone.

The 15,000 United Nations peacekeepers in Liberia are under instructions to arrest Mr Taylor and transfer him to the Special Court for Sierra Leone if he sets foot on Liberian soil.

'Empty cell'

A spokeswoman for the court's chief prosecutor Desmond de Silva told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that he welcomed the news that Mr Taylor may soon end his exile in Nigeria.

"His cell is empty and awaiting his arrival," the spokeswoman said.

An official from Mr Taylor's National Patriotic Party said the news was "shocking".

Mr Obasanjo has always refused to send Mr Taylor to Sierra Leone, saying he would only extradite him following a request from an elected Liberian leader.

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf took power in Liberia in January after winning last year's elections and visited Nigeria earlier this month.

Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf has previously said her priority is rebuilding Liberia, rather than putting Mr Taylor on trial.

But before she briefed the UN Security Council in New York on the situation in Liberia, she confirmed the request, reports the AFP news agency.

"I asked the African (Union) leadership to bring the Taylor issue to closure," she said.

Immunity

Mr Taylor is accused of selling diamonds and buying weapons for Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front rebels, who were notorious for hacking off the hands and legs of civilians during a 10-year war.

He also started the Liberian civil war in 1989, before being elected president in 1997.

Mr Taylor's supporters have said that he enjoys immunity from prosecution under the peace deal which saw him step down.

But human rights activists have accused him of breaking the terms of that deal by trying to influence Liberian politics.

Just before Mr Taylor stepped on a plane to take him to the south-eastern Nigerian city of Calabar in August 2003, he told Liberians: "God willing, I will be back."

Posted by Publisher at March 19, 2006 11:48 AM

Comments

Post a comment

Thanks for signing in, . Now you can comment. (sign out)

(If you haven't left a comment here before, you may need to be approved by the site owner before your comment will appear. Until then, it won't appear on the entry. Thanks for waiting.)


Remember me?





BNW Writers A-M


BNW Writers N-Z

 

BiafraNigeria Banner

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

BiafraNigeria Spacer

BiafraNigeria Spacer

 

BNW Forums

 

The Voice of a New Generation