DAKAR (AFX) - The prosecutor for the UN-backed Special Court for war crimes in Sierra Leone, Desmond da Silva, Sunday asked Nigerian authorities to detain former Liberian president and indicted war crimes suspect Charles Taylor.
The tribunal said in a statement received in Dakar that it has asked Nigeria 'to take all necessary steps to ensure that Charles Taylor is unable to abscond' and to execute an arrest warrant against him.
Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo said Saturday that he would allow his Liberian counterpart Ellen Johnson Sirleaf to take custody of her exiled predecessor, but when and how the handover would take place is not yet known.
Taylor is accused of masterminding a policy of murder, torture, pillage and rape in the 1990s in Liberia and neighbouring Sierra Leone, and is facing a 17-count indictment from the Freetown tribunal alleging crimes against humanity.
In August 2003, in a bid to bring an end to Liberia's 14-year civil war, Obasanjo urged Taylor to step down as Liberian president and accept political asylum in Nigeria. newsdesk@afxnews.com afp/hjp COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited