THE HAGUE – Former Liberian president Charles Taylor has told a war crimes court in The Hague that he played no part in forming the guerrilla force that invaded Sierra Leone in the early 1990s.
Taylor is testifying for the second week to defend himself against 11 counts of murder, torture and recruiting child soldiers in supporting rebels in Sierra Leone’s 1991-2002 civil war.
Taylor denied he colluded with the rebel leaders who led the incursion into Sierra Leone from Liberia, or helped them to create the rebel force.
He told the three judges of the UN-backed special Court for Sierra Leone yesterday that he was busy trying to set up his own government in Liberia and did not know of the presence of Sierra Leonean rebels. He described the prosecution case as conjecture and guesswork. – (AP)