The NEWS (Monrovia)
4 September 2008
Monrovia — The 37th Prosecution Witness in the ongoing trial of the former Liberian leader Charles Taylor has told the Special Court in The Hague of the role Mr Taylor allegedly played in the release of hundreds of UN peacekeepers taken hostage by RUF rebels in 2000.
The insider witness, in a distorted voice to disguise his identity, said it was Mr Taylor's desire to become Chairman of ECOWAS that led him to facilitate the release of the UN Peacekeepers.
He said Mr. Taylor invited RUF Commander Issa Sesay to his Executive Mansion in Monrovia and ordered that the release of the captured UN Peacekeepers.
Taylor allegedly said that the UN was after him to talk to the RUF to release the peacekeepers and that he had been promised that if he spearheaded the release he would be made Chairman of ECOWAS.
The witness quoted the accused of assuring that he would help Issa in the struggle if he helped release the peacekeepers.
Asked by prosecution Attorney Brenda Hollis in what way Taylor said he would help Issa in the struggle, the witness said "with anything that he asked for, because he had been promised to become the ECOWAS Chairman."
Under direct examination, the witness told the court that on July 26, 2000, in the presence of four African Heads of State, Charles Taylor effected the change of the RUF leadership. The four were President Olusegun Obasango of Nigeria, Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia and Omar Konare of Mali. He quoted Mr Taylor as saying that there was a need for the RUF to have a new leader because "Foday Sankoh was too old and that he was too stubborn and he was always being arrested and that he was a lazy leader so that he should be changed".
The witness said Taylor spoke with them to understand the change and the effective appointment of Issa Sesay as Interim leader of the RUF.
The witness pointed out that following the appointment of Issa Sesay as the leader of the RUF, he made several trips to Monrovia where he allegedly presented diamonds to Mr Taylor.
"When he went and handed over the diamonds, Charles Taylor told him that he shouldn't be coming frequently with diamonds to him. He said because the UN Observers and the international community were having eyes on him to see whether he had connections with the RUF," the witness said.
Henceforth, Taylor looked for an intermediary to be bringing the diamonds to him. He also alleged that Mr. Taylor assisted the RUF with arms and ammunition, fuel, money and food.
Courtesy: BBC World Service Trust
Be the first to Write a Comment!
Copyright © 2008 The NEWS. All rights reserved. Distributed by AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com). To contact the copyright holder directly for corrections — or for permission to republish or make other authorized use of this material, click here.
AllAfrica aggregates and indexes content from over 125 African news organizations, plus more than 200 other sources, who are responsible for their own reporting and views. Articles and commentaries that identify allAfrica.com as the publisher are produced or commissioned by AllAfrica.
