By Lansana Fofana
FREETOWN, May 6 2003 (IPS)

The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone has urged President Charles Taylor of Liberia to hand over fugitives who "bear the greatest responsibility for war crimes" during the country’s decade-long civil war, which ended in 1999.

"I am calling on President Charles Taylor to immediately turn over Johnny Paul Koroma (former junta leader) and Sam Bockarie whose nickname ‘Maskita’ is sometimes turned into "Mosquito," Alan White, the chief investigator of the UN-backed court, demanded this week.

"Those indicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone are war criminals and anyone who aids, abets or harbours a war criminal is subject to prosecution," remarked White.

Over the past week, speculation has been rife in Sierra Leone about the presence on Liberian soil of the two fugitives and even allegations that they are being sheltered by the Liberian leader, who backed rebel forces during Sierra Leone’s civil war.

So far, the court has indicted eight individuals thought to "bear the greatest responsibility for war crimes and crimes against humanity" during the war.

Six of the suspects, including the country’s Internal Affairs Minister Sam Hinga Norman who was commander of the then pro-government militia known as "Kamajors", are currently in the custody of the court and have made preliminary appearances.

Also detained by the court is the former leader of the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) Foday Sankoh who is down with partial stroke and reportedly "mentally unbalanced".

In almost all the indictments served, President Taylor’s name features prominently in alleged gun-running and so-called "blood diamond" smuggling deals with the RUF.

Special Court prosecutor David Crane said recently: "This case is far beyond Sierra Leone. It is national, regional and international. I will follow the evidence wherever it leads and whoever may be involved."

"No matter the status and nationality of a war crimes suspect, as long as he or she falls within the category of those most wanted, I will indict that person," Crane added.

The pressure now seems to be mounting on President Taylor whose problems at home, from a bloody rebellion mounted by his opponents, to a collapsing economy due to years of UN-imposed sanctions, are just as enormous.

Liberian government officials have swiftly denied having the two Sierra Leonean war crimes suspects. A spokesperson for the Monrovia regime told journalists over the weekend: "Sam Bockarie (ex-RUF battlefield commander) and Johnny Paul Koroma are not in Liberia. We understand they are in the jungles of Sierra Leone. So how could we turn over people who are not in our country?"

However, as temperatures boil over the Taylor-Special Court debacle, the Liberian President over the weekend telephoned his Sierra Leonean counterpart Ahmad Tejan Kabbah informing him that he will "find and turn over Bockarie and Koroma if they are on Liberian territory."

Taylor also promised to do all in his power to "restore peace and calm in the sub-region".

The Liberian leader has been named in rebellions in all Liberia’s neighbours – Sierra Leone, Cote d’Ivoire and Guinea.

The Brussels-based International Crisis Group (ICG), a think-tank, recently warned that until Taylor is taken out of the political stage, peace in the sub-region would remain elusive.

Taylor would almost certainly be indicted by the Sierra Leonean Special Court. He allegedly bankrolled the RUF invasion of Sierra Leone in 1991 from Liberia and has since been considered by RUF officials as "godfather".

Throughout the Sierra Leonean war, Liberia was believed to have been used as a conduit for arms trafficking and diamond smuggling. Even when RUF rebels abducted some 500 UN Peacekeepers a few years ago, it was primarily the intervention of President Taylor that secured their release.

Plus, RUF officials had long used Liberia as a rear base and even when battlefield commander Bockarie fell out of favour with the RUF leadership, he fled straight to Liberia.

Many Sierra Leoneans are apprehensive that a coalition of the two fugitives backed by President Taylor may be a potential for violent disruption of the court.

"I have no doubt that both Bockarie and Koroma are in Monrovia (Liberian capital) under the protection of President Taylor," remarks Musa Sesay, a Freetown-based civil servant. "Until further pressure is heaped on Taylor, these guys may strike and torpedo the fragile peace in Sierra Leone."

The conflict in Sierra Leone, which ended in July 1999, left behind more than 30,000 dead, thousands mutilated and about a quarter of the country’s five million population scattered as refugees in neighbouring countries.

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