Freetown — War crimes indictee Charles Taylor has refuted testimony of a prosecution witness that the Sierra Leonean rebels had three radio stations and operators in Liberia, including one at the country's main international airport.

Taylor was responding to the testimony of protected prosecution witness TFI-338 who in her September 2008 testimony spoke of the alleged relationship between Mr. Taylor and the Sierra Leonean rebel group, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF). Allegations that Taylor was in control of the RUF and in a position to prevent and punish crimes committed by the rebel group, along with allegations that he aided and abetted the RUF in crimes committed in Sierra Leone during its brutal conflict, go to the heart of some of the key charges against the former Liberian president at the Special Court for Sierra Leone.

The existence of radio communications between Taylor and the rebels were part of the prosecution's efforts to demonstrate the accused's alleged role in the crimes committed after 1996 in Sierra Leone's war.

According to the protected witness, regular radio communications existed between Liberian radio stations controlled by Taylor and his Special Security Service (SSS) Director Benjamin Yeaten on the one hand, and RUF radio stations controlled by rebel commander Sam Bockarie on the other. The witness testified that the RUF also maintained three radio stations in Liberia, including one at Liberia's main international airport, Roberts International Airport (RIA). These stations, the witness said, operated with Taylor's approval. The radio station at RIA, called Sky 1, was responsible for informing the RUF whenever West African peacekeepers based in Liberia took off in their Alpha Jet fighter aircraft to bomb RUF positions in Sierra Leone. But Taylor dismissed the witness' assertions as "lies".

"How will the RUF have a radio station installed at the international airport of Liberia? That is total foolishness," he said.

Asked by his defense counsel whether the RUF could have had radio stations in other parts of Liberia outside of Monrovia, Taylor said "it is possible may be they might know someone at the radio stations in Liberia but to have a radio station there, it is impossible."

He, however, admitted that sometime in 1998, the RUF maintained a radio station with his consent at the guesthouse that was assigned to them in Monrovia. The guesthouse and radio station were mainly geared towards facilitating discussions with the RUF for a peaceful end to the conflict in Sierra Leone. Other West African leaders involved in the Sierra Leone peace process knew about the guesthouse and radio station, Taylor explained.

"The only RUF radio station in Liberia was in 1998, installed at the guesthouse allocated to them. My other colleagues involved in the Sierra Leone peace process knew about it," he maintained.

Mr. Taylor's testimony continues on Monday October 26 when the Special Court resumes after recess.