Where next?

The Sierra Leone Special Court's indictment of President Charles Taylor leaves him little option but to fight to the death, potentially taking the thousands of Liberians who have crammed into Monrovia with him. The timing of the 4 June announcement was unfortunate. With the rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) at the gates of Monrovia, West African leaders hoped the Ghana peace talks would persuade Taylor to step down. But they were not prepared to arrest Taylor, and flew him back to Monrovia in President John Agyekum Kufuor's presidential Fokker 28. Officials were indignant at what they felt was an attempt to pressure them into handing over their guest when they hadn't been involved in the planning.

Article Tags:
Charles Taylor, Ghana, John Agyekum Kufuor, United States, French, Britain, Jeremy Greenstock, Moses Blah, Guinea, Nana Akufo-Addo, Charles F. Wald, Côte d'Ivoire, Pamela E. Bridgewater, Lewis, Browne, John T. Richardson

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