Obasanjo Lied To The World

Former Liberian President Charles Taylor has said he was duped by Nigeria into being arrested and facing international justice.

Mr Taylor was speaking at his trial on war crimes charges at the Special Court for Sierra Leone in The Hague.

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

He had left power and was in exile in Nigeria in 2006 when he was arrested.

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.

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

Then, Mr Taylor 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.

The former Liberian leader told the court yesterday that Mr Obasanjo had earlier assured him he could leave the country freely.

He said Mr Obasanjo had lied to the world when he said that he, Mr Taylor, was trying to escape.

Mr Taylor said he hoped he would live to look Mr Obasanjo in the face one day and ask him to tell the truth about what happened. — BBC Share Your Thoughts on this article Name Email Location Comments Graphic Ghana may edit your comments and not all comments will be published