Are His Loyalists Still In Contact?

The extradition of Charles Ghankay Taylor, former president of Liberia, has been on the lips of prosecuting officers at the UN-backed war-crime tribunal in Sierra Leone since he fled into exile on August 11, 2003.

More than once media and optimists' opinions in Freetown claimed that Taylor was about to be handed over for prosecution, but more than once such reports were debunked by words from Abuja that Nigeria would release Taylor only to an elected government in Monrovia.

Taylor's assailants want him primarily for his role in the atrocities reportedly committed during the Sierra Leonean decade-long civil war, but now there is more pressure for his extradition inside Liberia and within diplomatic circles because it is believed that he is adversely influencing developments in Liberia's fragile peace process through financial and moral support for surrogate warmonger in Monrovia.

But as The Analyst's Staff Writer reports, the process seemed reversed: instead of remitting funds to Liberia to undermine the peace process, it is now believed that Taylor is rather receiving money from Liberia perhaps to support an armed insurgency.

The December 2004 reports of the UN Panel of Experts report has revealed that it has evidence that former Liberian president Charles Taylor is still receiving money from Liberia.

The reports say even though there has not been any direct evidence suggesting that money, funds, or assets have been diverted to former president Charles Taylor in Nigeria, information received by the UN Panel of experts shows that he is still receiving money from Liberia.

According to the experts using various sources, under condition of anonymity, it appears that "the financing of Charles Taylor is made in cash, using both male and female couriers. The couriers deliver the cash using international flights, but remittance is made via another intermediary in order to avoid a direct route." "In many cases there is no need to transfer any money in cash. The former president of Liberia will contact a 'friend' by phone and instruct him to give the required funds to a third party," the Panel's report said.

Presently, it is difficult to assess which individuals are currently supplying money to Taylor, the report noted.

"The general lack of any type of financial control, and rampant corruption in Liberia, make the diversion of money from any company or individual to Taylor extremely easy," the Panel report said without saying whether or not the money may have come from government coffers.

It however insisted that "Taylor still poses a threat to future stability in Liberia." Taylor - under bloody attacks from two rebel groups battling to overthrow him - accepted a Nigerian offer of asylum in August last year under an agreement designed to restore lasting peace to war-ravaged Liberia., said the report.

Although an arrest warrant was issued in the form of a Red Notice for Taylor's detention by the Special Court of Sierra Leone over one year ago, Taylor remains at large in Nigeria, reportedly living as a guest of honor in the Nigerian city of Calabar.

"This raises questions about the efficacy of the application of the rule of law at the international level, particularly as Nigeria is a member of the United Nations and the International Police Organization," the report contended further.

Observers say while reports of the remittance of funds to Taylor from Liberia instead of the other way around are difficult to dismiss outright, there are rings of truth to them if recent reports of Taylor's bankruptcy are anything to go by.

They say the truth cannot be any farther away mainly when such reports are added to the fact that Taylor is covertly connected with several businesses in Monrovia, being the sole shareholder in some, and that the travel ban and financial freeze on some of his prime confidants and confidantes is still loosely applied and leaky, Says the Panel's report, "Rumors abound in Liberia that other named persons like Jewel Howard Taylor are disposing of their properties. It was published in the local press that she sold two generators recently for US$38,000 to a Lebanese businessman and the transaction was conducted in cash." Thus far, according to the Panel's report, only Germany, United Kingdom, and the United States of America have frozen the assets of some of those listed on the asset freeze list.

Those reportedly affected include foreign businessman Leonid Minin of the Exotic Timber Company; Agnes Reeves-Taylor, former wife of exiled former president Charles Taylor, and former Maritime commissioner Benoni Urey.

No assets of any of the targeted persons are known to have been frozen in Liberia pursuant to resolution 1532 (2004) despite huge assets rumored to be held by each of these individuals.

The Panel recommends that adequate international pressure be brought upon the New Transitional Government of Liberia for prompt implementation of the financial sanctions. It also suggests that necessary legal assistance should be provided to the NTGL on a priority basis for implementation of the financial sanctions within the territory of Liberia.

The Panel analyzed the movements of persons at Roberts International Airport for the period 1 June-5 November 2004. None of the persons mentioned on the travel-ban list, except Mohamed Salame, seen on 8th of August 2004 on his way to Abidjan, was on the airport's departure manifests.

In that regard, the Panel was informed that the Liberian immigration authorities are vigilant and are assisted by UNMIL, which has established a CIVPOL unit at the airport itself. However, several sources have informed the Panel that some of the persons on the travel ban regularly visit their mentor in Nigeria - which suggests that other subterfuges are also used.

The Panel raised the issue of the travel ban in its meeting with Mr. Abraham B. Mitchell, the Liberian official responsible for border-surveillance matters.

He noted that two incidents had been reported to him. First, the case of Mrs. Jewel Taylor, wife of Charles Taylor, who had been arrested at RIA when she arrived from Nigeria. The second case concerned Mr.

Momo Gibba, who had tried to outwit the police by trying to pass himself off as Mo Jones before being stopped by Liberian immigration authorities.

Money transfer to Taylor may be a long way off from ascertaining, but analysts say where there is smoke, there is bound to be fire and that the NTGL and UNMIL have no option but to verify these reports and move quickly to stop it.

They say the parallel between remittance of funds and the purchase of arms for destabilization purposes is always natural and that Taylor is no stranger to such deals.