POLITICS-LIBERIA: Whether Taylor Quits, He Must Stand Trial – Court

By Lansana Fofana Reprint | | Print |

Lansana Fofana

FREETOWN, Jul 7 2003 (IPS) - Whether or not President Charles Taylor leaves office, his indictment will still stand, says the UN-backed Special War Crimes Court.

"Wherever Mr. Charles Taylor goes he must be turned over to the court to stand trial," says David Crane, the court’s prosecutor.

The court, which is based in Freetown, has indicted Taylor for "bearing the greatest responsibility for war crimes," committed during Sierra Leone’s 10-year civil war, which ended in 2001.

But Nigeria, which is offering President Taylor asylum, has warned that it will not tolerate harassment by any country, or organisation, to hand over the embattled Liberian leader.

"Nigeria has always been involved in solving Liberia’s political problems and, as the regional power, it is our duty to step in and offer help," said President Olusegun Obasanjo.

Obasanjo flew to Liberia over the weekend to persuade Taylor to step down. "President Taylor has accepted to go into exile to Nigeria," said Obasanjo at the end of his visit to the war-torn country. "Mr. Taylor can stay in Nigeria for as long as he wants."

But Obasanjo warned: "President Taylor’s exit must be orderly and without bloodshed."

Taylor has accepted to leave the political scene, but at his own timing. "I am prepared to step aside but not before an international stabilisation force is in place," Taylor said on Sunday. "I am stepping down in the interest of peace in the country. I do not want to quit and leave behind chaos."

There have been calls for the deployment of a U.S.-led peace-keeping force, but the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) is yet to get its members to assemble the troops.

The United States, which has historic and traditional ties with Liberia, has announced its plan to intervene but still seems pretty coy about the idea of sending troops.

The American fear may stem from its experience in Somalia in the early 1990s when 18 U.S. marines were killed by militia fighters. "The Americans do not want to get their troops on the ground in Liberia. What they may do is to support an African force with logistics and intelligence advise," a military analyst told IPS Monday.

The closest the Americans have come to intervening in Liberia is the sending of military assessment team, which would be looking at options for interventions and report its findings to the defence department in Washington.

At the moment though, there seems to be no renewed hostilities, since the main rebel group, the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) was beaten back from the capital, Monrovia, two weeks ago. Those battles were bloody and left deaths and destruction.

More than 250,000 civilians were displaced, with the bloodbath – emanating from the death of 400 non-combatants – drawing the concern of the international community. There is a humanitarian disaster looming in Liberia with most aid workers having fled fighting.

Peace talks also are taking place in Ghana between the country’s belligerents. The aim is to end the conflict and put in place a transitional government that is all-inclusive.

A high-powered UN Security Council delegation which has just concluded a tour of eight West African states has indicated its backing for the ECOWAS initiative. "We do support the idea of putting in place a transitional government that would exclude leaders of the current conflict, including President Taylor," remarked Security Council President Jerry Greenstock in Freetown on Friday.

"The Liberian people would like to see Mr. Taylor go but they do not have the means. We are closely monitoring the situation and want an orderly transition," he said.