Taylor's Last Dance?
By Douglas Farah
It looks like Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has decided the time to get Charles Taylor to the Special Court may be now. Of course, we have seen various steps in this dance before, and ultimately Taylor remains in Nigeria and justice is thawarted. I am not overly optimistic the case will be different this time.
However, ther are some important changes from the past. Various press reports tell of Nigerian president Obasanjo and South African president Mbeki meeting to discuss handing Taylor over to the Special Court. Today, the Liberian government officially acknowledged for the first time that Liberia was looking for a way to extradite Taylor from his luxurious exile in Calabar, Nigeria.
In a statement issued in Monrovia, the Liberian government said that it, in conjunction with Nigeria, it is seeking a solution that will be "acceptable to the international community, the United Nations and at the same time guarantee the rights of Mr. Taylor's under international law."
In a demonstration of just how well connected Taylor remains in some quarters of the Obasanjo administration, it was Taylor's spokesman, Sylvester Paasewe, who initially said that Liberia has made an extradition request. The full blog is here.
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