Liberia seeks handover of Taylor to court

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UNITED NATIONS - Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf said Friday
she wants ex-president Charles Taylor handed over to a war crimes
tribunal for prosecution for his role in Sierra Leone's civil war, with
the agreement of African leaders.

Sirleaf told the U.N. Security Council Liberia "is determined to address
issues from our painful past ... so that the country can move ahead."

Taylor was given asylum in Nigeria to help end Liberia's civil war and
Sirleaf said she and Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo agreed at a
recent meeting to seek African leaders' views before any handover.

"I have consulted with Nigerian president Obasanjo and asked him that we
and the leaders of Africa, particularly those that were involved in the
arrangements that took Mr. Taylor to exile, now bring this matter to
closure - and by closure I mean that that decision should be taken that
would allow Mr. Taylor to have his day in court," Sirleaf told a news
conference after addressing the Security Council.

Obasanjo, who was credited with helping end Liberia's civil war when he
helped arrange Taylor's asylum, is consulting with other African leaders
on how to respond to Sirleaf's request, his office said.

Both Nigeria and Liberia have been under heavy international pressure to
hand over Taylor to the court.

Obasanjo had said he would consider any request by a democratically
elected Liberian leader. Sirleaf became African's first woman president
after winning election in January.

Taylor plunged Liberia into years of civil war in 1989 when he led a
small rebel band that invaded from neighboring Ivory Coast. He was
elected president in 1997 during a lull in fighting.

He has been indicted by a U.N. tribunal in Sierra Leone on charges of
committing crimes against humanity while in office by aiding and
directing a Sierra Leone rebel movement and trading guns and gems with
the insurgents infamous for chopping off the lips, ears and limbs of
civilian victims. Fighting ended in 2001 in Sierra Leone.

Taylor has lived in exile in the southern Nigerian city of Calabar since
being forced from power under a peace deal brokered in 2003 that ended
the rebel assault on the Liberian capital, Monrovia.

The first word of Liberia's move came from Obasanjo's office, which
issued a statement earlier on Friday saying Liberia had asked for
Taylor's extradition. It said the Nigerian president was consulting with
leaders from the African Union and the Economic Community of West
African States who helped broker Taylor's exile on how to respond.

When Sirleaf arrived at the United Nations and was asked about Nigeria's
statement, she clarified that she wanted African leaders to agree to ask
for Taylor's handover.

Sirleaf criticized Obasanjo and the international community for not
acting much earlier to bring Taylor to justice.

She said Liberia was taking "a rather courageous but risky" stand
because "Liberia's peace is fragile."

"There are many loyalists in our country to Mr. Taylor. There are many
business interests he has. Whatever decision is taken by the African
leadership must ensure that the safety of the Liberian people and the
stability of our nation is not undermined," she said.

Sirleaf said she met with Obasanjo in response to the increasing
international pressure.

U.S. Ambassador John Bolton told the Security Council that the United
States supported efforts by Sirleaf, Obasanjo "and other African leaders
to bring Charles Taylor to justice."

Associated Press Writer Bashir Adigun contributed to this story from
Abuja, Nigeria.