UN urged to put Taylor on trial
The new chief prosecutor of Sierra Leone's war crimes tribunal says he
hopes Liberia's exiled former leader Charles Taylor will soon face trial.
Desmond de Silva said if a UN Security Council resolution was passed this
month, Nigeria might be persuaded to hand him over to the UN-backed court.

Mr Taylor was offered asylum in Nigeria in return for giving up power in
2003.

Meanwhile, Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo has discussed the issue
with US leader George W Bush.

Mounting pressure

Mr Obasanjo said the terms of Mr Taylor's exile had to be borne in mind but
said he would work with the US to address its desire that Mr Taylor face
justice.

This week the US House of Representatives passed a resolution calling for
Nigeria to turn him over to the court.


 I will do everything in my power to bring that monster of evil Charles
Taylor to answer his indictment by the special court
Desmond de Silva
Chief prosecutor, Sierra Leone Special Court

Nigeria agreed to give him asylum under a deal to end Liberia's civil war
and has said it will not hand him over to the tribunal, which has indicted
him on 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his alleged
role in Sierra Leone's conflict.
"Charles Taylor is our highest potential defendant... having been
responsible in large parts for the savagery of the civil war that took
place in Sierra Leone," Mr de Silva told the BBC's Network Africa
programme.

"I sincerely hope... this month the Security Council will pass the
resolution ... and with the Security Council on board I think that Nigeria
might be persuaded."

'Network of warlords'

Mr de Silva, 65, a British lawyer who has been deputy to David Crane, will
step up in July.

"I pledge to you Sierra Leoneans and the world that I will do everything in
my power to bring that monster of evil Charles Taylor to answer his
indictment by the special court," he said following his appointment.

The incoming chief prosecutor of the Sierra Leone Special Court said the
mounting international pressure on Nigeria to hand over the former Liberian
president was a good sign that Mr Taylor would face justice soon.

Earlier this week, Mr Crane said that Mr Taylor was behind an attempt to
assassinate Guinea's President Lansana Conte in January, in revenge for Mr
Conte's backing of Liberian rebels.

"From exile, Charles Taylor remains in contact with his political network
in Liberia on a day-to-day basis. He has also mobilised his network of
warlords and cronies to keep West Africa in turmoil," Mr Crane said.

Mr Taylor has not commented on these latest charges.

Story from BBC NEWS:
http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/pr/fr/-/2/hi/africa/4520855.stm

Published: 2005/05/06 09:40:57 GMT

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