Word: liberia
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...asked the Netherlands if it could hold Taylor's trial in The Hague. Prosecutor de Silva, as well as the leaders of neighboring African countries, believe that trying Taylor in Sierra Leone could destabilize the region. Taylor still has thousands of supporters, most of them unemployed former soldiers, in Liberia, which he ruled for seven years, as well as in neighboring Sierra Leone, whose civil war he allegedly fueled by buying diamonds and supplying arms. Many observers fear that Taylor could call on those same loyal men and boys to foment trouble again. "We have a very fragile peace process...
...From his exile in Nigeria between August 2003 and last week, human rights groups say Taylor continued to meddle in the internal affairs of Liberia. In the run up to last year's Liberian presidential poll, which elected Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Taylor financed the campaigns of several loyalists who ended up in parliament, says Corrine Dufka, a researcher for Human Rights Watch. "Once people see him on television, isolated and removed, it starts to demystify him," says Liberia's Labor Minister Samuel Koffi Woods. "It's only then that the mini warlords who are still here will understand that they...
Still, Taylor very nearly slipped away. On March 25, Obasanjo, under pressure himself from the U.S., finally agreed to extradite Taylor. Two days later, as Nigeria and Liberia argued over who was responsible for transporting the former warlord to Sierra Leone, Taylor disappeared. Police sources in Calabar told TIME they believe Taylor's vanishing act was instigated by some of his supporters with the connivance of Nigerian officials, who wanted to relieve themselves of responsibility for arresting Taylor. Nigerian authorities arrested 22 police officers guarding his residence for "misconduct, dereliction of duty and offenses prejudicial to discipline," and Obasanjo...
...luck or by design. But that matters little to Liberians who suffered from his brutality. As long as Taylor evaded justice, there was always the chance he might one day return to power. Hours after Taylor's arrest, Nigeria put the former leader on a presidential jet bound for Liberia. On a rain-soaked runway, Taylor was handed over to Liberian authorities, who passed him on to U.N. soldiers, who choppered him to Freetown, Sierra Leone. A few hours later, Taylor sat in a prison cell, his likely home for years to come...
WANGARI MAATHAI The Kenyan M.P., an environmentalist, won the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004. I propose Liberia's Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, Africa's first elected female head of state. The choice is an inspiration, especially for girls, who can believe that one day they can make it. Her election lifts a cloud. I'd also select Costa Rica's President, Oscar Arias Sánchez, who has pursued peace in his region, and Burmese opposition leader and jailed dissident Aung San Suu Kyi, who is not breaking under pressure the rest of us will never have to face...