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| Chales Taylor |
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Charles Taylor did not
give jailed Sierra Leonean rebel leader Foday Sankoh $20,000 in 1999,
either as
a "good
gesture" or as a payment in exchange for safekeeping diamonds for his
rebel group, Mr. Taylor told Special Court for Sierra Leone judges
today."No I did not send Sankoh any money. If I had, it would have been
a good gesture," the accused former Liberian president said today in
response to whether he ever gave Mr. Sankoh an amount of $20,000.Mr.
Taylor was responding to the evidence of a protected prosecution witness
who said, in his 2008 testimony, that while the government of Sierra Leone
and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels were in the Togolese
capital
Lome for peace talks in 1999, Mr. Taylor gave a member of the RUF external
delegation, Ibrahim Bah, an amount of $20,000 for the RUF leader Mr.
Sankoh. Mr. Taylor said today that this was not true."If I wanted to send money
for Sankoh, I would have done so through the Liberian Foreign Minister who
was in Lome. It would have been a good
gesture just like Eyadema and Obasanjo did give him money, but I did
not," Mr.
Taylor said. [Mr. Taylor was referring to former Togolese president,
Gnassingbe Eyadema, and former Nigerian President, Olusegun Obasanjo].According
to the witness, Mr. Sankoh was very agitated upon receiving what he
called "a peanut" from
Mr. Taylor because Mr. Sankoh had received reports that RUF commander
Sam Bockarie had given huge amounts of diamonds
to Mr. Taylor during Mr. Sankoh's incarceration. Between 1997 and 1999,
Mr. Sankoh was in jail in Nigeria and in his absence, Mr. Bockarie
acted as leader
of the RUF. When rebels attacked Sierra Leone's capital in January
1999, Mr. Sankoh was released and the government of Sierra Leone decided
to hold
peace talks with the RUF. This led to the signing of the peace agreement
between the two parties in the Togolese capital Lome in 1999.Prosecution
witnesses have alleged that during Mr. Sankoh's absence, Mr. Bockarie took
orders from Mr. Taylor. Witnesses have also alleged that all
diamonds mined by the RUF were given to Mr. Taylor for safe-keeping.
Mr. Taylor has been charged by the Prosecution with aiding and abetting the
RUF's
crimes through the exchange of weapons and other support for diamonds,
and also with being in a position of control over the RUF so as to be able
to
prevent or punish crimes committed by RUF forces.According to the protected
witness, whose testimony Mr. Taylor sought to discredit today, Mr. Sankoh
was expecting to receive more money from Mr.
Taylor because the former Liberian president was in possession of diamonds
on behalf of the RUF. The witness said that Mr. Sankoh did not see
it as a gesture for Mr. Taylor to give him the $20,000. Mr. Taylor dismissed
the
witness' account."This is total foolishness because I did not receive
any money or diamonds from Bockarie. If I had sent him that money and he
had said that it was peanuts,
then it would have been ungrateful of him. Bockarie did not say so
in his report to Sankoh," Mr. Taylor said."Sankoh never asked me
a question about diamonds kept for the RUF," he
added.The prosecution witness also said that while members of the RUF
delegation to the peace talks in Togo were on transit in Liberia, Mr. Taylor
gave each
of them an amount of $300. Mr. Taylor admitted today that while he
did give members of the RUF delegation some money, he cannot remember what
the exact
amount was."I did give them some money but I cannot remember the amount.
I agree," he
said.Mr. Taylor's also today challenged the authenticity of a hand-written
report from the Black Revolutionary Guard Unit of the RUF which was
presented to
Mr. Sankoh after his release in 1999. The report, which was presented
last year as a prosecution exhibit, stated that the RUF received support
in the
form of weapons and military advice from Mr. Taylor while Mr. Sankoh
was in custody.
why will this individual present a hand-written report when the commander
is already there, that the commander cannot sign? This is the part
of their handiwork here. This is fabrication, this is what is going on," Mr.
Taylor responded.A 16-page minute of an oral report submitted to Mr.
Sankoh after his release in 1999 also indicated that Mr. Taylor received about
1832
pieces of diamonds
from the RUF for safekeeping while Mr. Sankoh was in custody. The report,
however, does not make any reference to Mr. Taylor giving war-like
materials to the RUF. All reference to receipt of war-like materials
in the report
were about help received from the RUF's "main helper in Burkina Faso."Mr.
Taylor denied receiving any such diamonds from the RUF.Mr. Taylor's
testimony continues on Tuesday. There will be no court hearings on Monday
as the court
will observe an official holiday in The Hague. |
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