UN plan to move Taylor's trial hits new snag

UNITED NATIONS - A UN plan to move the war crimes trial of ex-Liberian leader Charles Taylor to The Hague could be further delayed by difficulties in finding a country willing to take Taylor after the trial.

The Netherlands has expressed willingness to host Taylor's trial but wants assurances before the move that another country will either imprison the Liberian if he is convicted or accept him as an exile if he is acquitted, diplomats said yesterday.

The UN Security Council had initially planned to take up a resolution this week approving a shift in the trial to The Hague from the Sierra Leone capital of Freetown, but a vote may now slip into next week, they said.

Council members have been haggling for nearly two weeks over details of the move including whether the UN special court in Freetown would be able to come up with the extra money needed to hold the trial in Europe.

Concerning Taylor's ultimate destination, "the government of the Netherlands is looking for assurances, and no country has yet come forward to deliver those assurances," British Ambassador Emyr Jones Parry told reporters.

Sweden was among the nations approached to take Taylor but has rejected the idea, diplomats said.

"Having an end-state is important because people along the line, after he has moved to The Hague, want to know where he would go from there," US Ambassador John Bolton said.

"As a matter of good management, it is important to get this resolved. I don't anticipate this is going to take a long time, though," Bolton said.

Taylor is now in a cell in Freetown guarded by UN peacekeepers.

The UN tribunal there has asked for Taylor to be tried outside the West African region for fear it could spur unrest in Liberia or neighbouring Sierra Leone.

His 1989 rise to power led to a 14-year on-and-off civil war in Liberia that spilt across regional borders.

The special court has indicted him on 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for backing rebels who raped and mutilated civilians during Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war.

Taylor fled Liberia to go into exile in Nigeria in 2003 but was returned to Liberia and transferred to the UN court in Sierra Leone on March 29. He pleaded innocent to the charges earlier this month.

- REUTERS