She did it! Liberia finally requested formally that Charles Taylor be extradited for trial.
Liberia has formally asked Nigeria to extradite former Liberian President Charles Taylor.
A spokeswoman for Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said he would put the request to other African leaders.
A UN-backed war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone wants to put Mr Taylor on trial for backing Sierra Leone rebels.
He stood down as Liberian leader and went into exile in Nigeria in 2003 under an international deal to end Liberia’s 14-year civil war.
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Mr Taylor is accused of selling diamonds and buying weapons for Sierra Leone’s Revolutionary United Front rebels, who were notorious for hacking off the hands and legs of civilians during a 10-year war.
He also started the Liberian civil war in 1989, before being elected president in 1997.
Mr Taylor’s supporters have said that he enjoys immunity from prosecution under the peace deal which saw him step down.
But human rights activists have accused him of breaking the terms of that deal by trying to influence Liberian politics.
Just before Mr Taylor stepped on a plane to take him to the south-eastern Nigerian city of Calabar in August 2003, he told Liberians: “God willing, I will be back.”
BBC NEWS | Africa | Liberia seeks end to Taylor exile
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