Charles Taylor 'duped' by Nigeria

The Hague, Netherlands, 11 Nov-(ANA)-Former Liberian President Charles Taylor has said he was duped by Nigeria into being arrested there in 2006.

Speaking at his war crimes trial in The Hague, he said Nigeria's then-leader had reneged on a promise to let him leave the country freely.

He also claimed a plot involving the UK and the US led to his indictment.

Mr Taylor is accused of backing rebels, who committed widespread atrocities throughout the 1990s in Liberia's neighbour Sierra Leone.

He was living in exile in Nigeria in 2006 when US pressure to put him on trial for alleged war crimes increased.

Mr Taylor now says the president of Nigeria at the time, Olusegun Obasanjo - who is currently a United Nations peace envoy - told him lies that caused him to be arrested.

The former Liberian leader told the Special Court for Sierra Leone on Tuesday that Mr Obasanjo had earlier assured him he could leave the country freely.

"He lied to the world when he said I was escaping, and he knew nothing about it," he said.

"Why he lied? I don't know, but as a brother and a friend, I think he ought to speak and tell the truth about it."

After Mr Obasanjo said Liberia's new government was free to take Mr Taylor into custody, the former Liberian leader suddenly disappeared while Mr Obasanjo was on his way to Washington to meet his US counterpart, George W Bush.

Then, equally suddenly, the Nigerians announced that they had arrested Mr Taylor for trying to escape.

He was captured, allegedly with huge sacks of cash, on the border with Cameroon - some 1,000km (600 miles) from the southern town of Calabar, where he had been living in exile.

Mr Taylor had been given asylum in Nigeria as part of a deal to end Liberia's civil war, though human rights groups accused him of breaking the terms of the deal by continuing to interfere in Liberian politics. (ANA)

FA/ANA/11 November 2009---