Liberia's Taylor goes on trial for war crimes

0 Comments | AFP, June, 2007

THE HAGUE (AFP) — The war crimes trial of former Liberian president Charles Taylor, accused of controlling rebel groups in neighbouring Sierra Leone that went on a blood diamond-financed rampage of rape and mutilation, starts here Monday.

The first African head of state to go on trial for war crimes before an international tribunal, Taylor will be tried by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.

Taylor, 59, faces 11 charges of crimes against humanity and war crimes committed during the 1991-2001 civil war in Sierra Leone, considered one of the most brutal in modern history. Up to 200,000 people were killed in the fighting and rebels mutilated thousands more, cutting off arms or legs, ears or noses.

According to the charges against him Taylor armed,...