U.S. Vows to Help Bring Liberian to Justice
WASHINGTON, May 5 - The administration took a cautious stance on Thursday on the deposed Liberian leader Charles Taylor, pledging to help bring him to justice over war crimes but refusing to say whether President Bush would push to have him expelled from Nigeria, where he has been sheltered.
Mr. Bush met Thursday with Nigeria's president, Olusegun Obasanjo, and has been under pressure from Republicans to prod him into sending Mr. Taylor to be tried in war crimes in the Special Court for Sierra Leone, which is supported by the United Nations. That tribunal has indicted Mr. Taylor on 17 counts of crimes against humanity, including murder and enslavement, in connection with his support for rebels in Sierra Leone, Liberia's neighbor.
Mr. Bush's chief spokesman, Scott McClellan, declined to say before the meeting whether Mr. Bush would raise the subject of Mr. Taylor with the Nigerian president. And Mr. Obasanjo, addressing reporters at the White House afterward, spoke generally of his hope that some accord could be reached on Mr. Taylor.
"Nobody should, of course, condone any crime that anybody has committed, no matter how highly placed," Mr. Obasanjo said, indicating that he and Mr. Bush had discussed the issue.
"The administration and Congress share a common goal," Mr. McClellan said. "A way needs to be found for Charles Taylor to be held to account for the crimes that he has committed."
Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice also discussed Mr. Taylor in a meeting with Mr. Obasanjo earlier on Thursday, the State Department spokesman, Richard A. Boucher, said. Asked whether Ms. Rice had suggested that Mr. Taylor be sent to the special Sierra Leone court, Mr. Boucher said only that the issue of how to bring Mr. Taylor to justice was "a matter of continuing discussion."
On Wednesday, the House of Representatives passed a resolution calling on Nigeria to send Mr. Taylor to Sierra Leone to stand trial.
In late 1989, Mr. Taylor organized a rebellion in Liberia that gained a reputation for appalling violence. He became Liberia's president in 1997, though the fighting continued. Exiled in 2003, he was given shelter in Nigeria, in a deal involving Nigeria, the United States and African leaders.
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