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Peg Not Taylor's Surrender to Aid, Minister Sieh Tells EU

The Analyst (Monrovia)
NEWS
November 17, 2005
Posted to the web November 17, 2005

By D. Moses Wantu

The optimism for rapid reconstruction which Liberians have started greeting the
result of the 2005 Presidential and legislative elections was recently
seriously skewed by statement from the International community, specifically
the European Union (EU). The EU as a post election observation commentary
maintained that as a precondition of getting reconstruction aid from the
European Union, the incoming government would have to turn over exile Liberian
ex-president Charles Taylor to the Sierra Leonean Special War Crimes Court to
make him answer to the seventeen counts of crimes against humanity and war
crimes during that country's decade long war.
However, the Deputy Minister for Operation at the Ministry of Internal Affairs,
Mr. Cletus Sieh is one of several Liberian politicians who have vehemently
spoken against the pegging of Taylor's surrender to the release of EU aid for
Liberia's post war reconstruction.
"They are pegging the issue of Charles Taylor to the aid; I think it is not
fair to the Liberian people. It is not fair to our nation, and the EU needs to
go to where Taylor is and take him to Sierra Leone instead of getting the
Liberian people involved in this matter," the deputy Minister reflected.
He added that after all, it was not the Liberian people who indicted Mr.
Taylor; it is the Sierra Leoneans that indicted him. As such, he argued, "It
was Sierra Leone that said that Taylor did something to them. Taylor is not
residing in Liberia, but in Nigeria and the International community has the
power to get him out of Nigeria to Sierra Leone." The deputy minister said that
making the Taylor surrender a precondition for assistance, is as if, it is the
Liberian government that is keeping Taylor, if we don't turn him over noting
will come to Liberia. I think it is not fair at all," Sieh told the Analyst
yesterday at his office in Monrovia.
Mr. Sieh said his position is not to see Taylor going with impunity, but that
he should be taken to Sierra Leone by the International community instead of
getting Liberians involved.
According to the young minister Liberians are now focused on rebuilding their
broken lives and not always having their minds preoccupied with Mr. Taylor.
Mr. Sieh who is an executive of the Liberian Unification Party (LUP) emphasized
that the issue of Taylor coming back to Liberia at this time is a very
dangerous thing for the country.
"With Taylor out of Liberia, we are now enjoying peace; we have just had
elections and want to move forward. The Taylor situation should be between
Nigeria and the International community, let them turn Taylor over to Sierra
Leone. It should not be Nigeria sending Taylor to Liberia and Liberia sending
him to Sierra Leone that is not a good exercise", Minister Sieh lamented.
Commenting on the just ended elections, minister Sieh, campaigning has made
Liberians to engage in interpersonal attacks against one another and now the
elections are over with much need to reconcile and forge ahead.
He challenged the new government to prioritize peace and reconciliation because
for so long Liberians have been divided.

   

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