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| UK Willing to Jail Former Liberian President |
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The British Government said Thursday that it was willing to jail former Liberian President Charles Taylor if he is convicted of war crimes, breaking an impasse that had stalled Taylor's trial. Foreign Secretary Margaret Beckett said the decision demonstrated "through concrete action the UK's commitment to international justice."
The Sierra Leone court had asked the Netherlands-based International Criminal Court to host the trial, fearing Taylor's trial in Africa might revive regional instability. The Netherlands agreed on condition a third country jail Taylor if he were convicted or take him in if he were acquitted. Denmark, Austria and Sweden had all rejected requests to jail Taylor. The Dutch Government said Thursday that with Britain's announcement, conditions it set for hosting Taylor's trial at The Hague have been met. "What we need is a Security Council resolution to be adopted and we expect that to be happening within a few days," added Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Hannah Tijmes. A UN Security Council resolution calling for Taylor's trial to be moved was another condition set by the Dutch Government. The resolution has been drafted, but the council was waiting for a country to agree to take Taylor before putting it to a vote. "This is a welcome and significant step to fulfill the conditions set by the Dutch Government for Charles Taylor's trial to take place," said Peter Andersen, spokesman for the Sierra Leone war crimes court. The court last month dismissed a motion filed by Taylor's lawyer, who is pressing to keep the trial in Sierra Leone. Taylor says his witnesses and relatives would not be able to attend if the trial were moved to Europe. "I was delighted to be able to respond positively to the request of the United Nations secretary-general that, should he be convicted, Charles Taylor serve his sentence in the UK," Beckett said in a statement. "My decision was driven by two compelling arguments. Firstly, that Taylor's presence in Sierra Leone remains a threat to peace in that region. Secondly, that we are demonstrating through concrete action the UK's commitment to international justice." Taylor faces 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity stemming from his alleged backing of Sierra Leonean rebels who terrorized victims by chopping off their arms, legs, ears and lips during that country's 1991-2002 civil war. While the charges refer only to Sierra Leone, Taylor is accused of fomenting violence in his homeland and elsewhere in West Africa. Taylor launched a Liberian insurgency in 1989 and won elections that handed him the presidency in 1997. Rebels took up arms against him three years later and Taylor fled into asylum in Nigeria in 2003. (China Daily June 16, 2006)
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