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CharlesTaylorTrial.org (The Hague)
****** Liberia: Taylor Wanted United Nations Authorization For Use Of Force In
Sierra Leone ******
Alpha Sesay
29 July 2009
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Charles Taylor supported the decision of West African states to remove the
Sierra Leonean junta from power in 1998, but wanted any use of force for that
purpose to be authorized by the United Nations Security Council, he told
Special Court for Sierra Leone judges today.
As a member of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Committee
of Five a group designed to bring peace to Sierra Leone that he had no option
but to support the decision to oust the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council
(AFRC) junta from power and restore the democratic government of Ahmed Tejan
Kabbah, Taylor said.
"Liberia pledged its support for the ECOWAS decision to restore the government
of President Kabbah to power," Taylor told the judges.  He said that if Liberia
had the military man power, he would have contributed troops to remove the
junta from power by force.
Taylor told the judges that he was troubled that Nigeria wanted to use force to
remove the junta in Sierra Leone but since he was part of the Committee of
Five, he had no option but to get along with what had been agreed.

 "I am troubled but I am part of the process," he said when he told judges
about the decision to use force in Sierra Leone.
Taylor said that when the military intervention to remove the AFRC junta from
power started in February 1998, his Liberian foreign minister, together with
other West African foreign ministers, traveled to New York to address the UN
Security Council on why the operation was necessary. He said that members of
the Security Council, especially Britain, were opposed to the use of force in
Sierra Leone without express authorization from the United Nations.
Taylor explained that his initial opposition to the use of force in Sierra
Leone stemmed from the fact that any use of force without UN authorization
would have had a spill-over effect on Liberia, which was just stepping out of
its own conflict. He said that when tensions mounted in Sierra Leone, he closed
the Sierra Leone-Liberia border so as to protect his own people.
Taylor told the judges that when he became president in 1997, he traveled to
Guinea where he met with President Tejan Kabbah, who was in exile due to his
overthrow by the AFRC. Taylor said his meeting with Kabbah was very cordial and
there was no concern that he was supporting the AFRC.
 "There was no hostility towards me by Kabbah," he said.
Taylor denied all allegations that he was a terrorist, saying that it was a
phrase developed by former United States President George Bush, but its use has
now been stopped by President Obama. He said western countries were opposed to
him because he wanted an African solution to an African problem.
"I resent being labeled a terrorist. Africa has to be free, Africa has to
determine its own destiny," he said.
The prosecution has alleged that Taylor supported the Revolutionary United
Front (RUF) rebels and the AFRC junta in Sierra Leone and that by his actions
or inactions, he is responsible for crimes such as murder, rape and the
recruitment of children as soldiers in Sierra Leone.  Taylor has denied all the
allegations.
Taylor's testimony continues tomorrow.
Copyright © 2009 CharlesTaylorTrial.org. All rights reserved. Distributed by
AllAfrica Global Media (allAfrica.com).
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