CHARLES TAYLOR
Name: Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor
Born: 28 January 1948 Arthington, Liberia
Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor (born January 28, 1948) served as President of
Liberia from August 2, 1997 to August 11, 2003. He was once Africa's most
prominent warlord during the First Liberian Civil War in the early 1990s, was
elected president at the end of that conflict, was subsequently forced into
exile, and is now in detention at the International Criminal Court, where he
faces trial by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
In December 1989, Taylor launched an armed uprising from Côte d'Ivoire into
Liberia to overthrow its government. His forces, known as the National Patriotic
Front of Liberia (NPFL), soon controlled most of the country. Then-president
Samuel Doe was overthrown and tortured to death the following year by Prince
Johnson, a former senior commander of Taylor's NPFL who broke away and formed
the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia, INPFL. Doe's fall led to
the political fragmentation of the country into violent factionalism. In mid-1990,
Johnson's supporters split from Taylor's group and captured Monrovia for
themselves, depriving Taylor of outright victory.
The civil war turned into an ethnic conflict, with seven factions fighting for
control of Liberia's resources (especially iron ore, diamond, timber, and rubber).
Following the election of a new president in Liberia, the Nigerian government
said on March 25, 2006 that Liberia was free to collect Taylor so that he might
face war crimes charges in Liberian courts. The Nigerian government announced on
March 28 that Taylor had disappeared from his residence in Calabar, Nigeria. On
March 29, 2006, Taylor was arrested in Gamboru, along Nigeria's northeastern
border with Cameroon. Nigerian authorities put him on a plane bound for Liberia
and then handed him to the UN in Sierra Leone. On March 30, the Special Court
requested permission to use the premises of the International Criminal Court in
The Hague to carry out Taylor's trial, although the Special Court will still
conduct the proceedings of the trial. In Taylor's absence, the trial began on
June 4, 2007. He pleaded not guilty.
Name: Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor
Born: 28 January 1948 Arthington, Liberia
Charles McArthur Ghankay Taylor (born January 28, 1948) served as President of
Liberia from August 2, 1997 to August 11, 2003. He was once Africa's most
prominent warlord during the First Liberian Civil War in the early 1990s, was
elected president at the end of that conflict, was subsequently forced into
exile, and is now in detention at the International Criminal Court, where he
faces trial by the Special Court for Sierra Leone.
In December 1989, Taylor launched an armed uprising from Côte d'Ivoire into
Liberia to overthrow its government. His forces, known as the National Patriotic
Front of Liberia (NPFL), soon controlled most of the country. Then-president
Samuel Doe was overthrown and tortured to death the following year by Prince
Johnson, a former senior commander of Taylor's NPFL who broke away and formed
the Independent National Patriotic Front of Liberia, INPFL. Doe's fall led to
the political fragmentation of the country into violent factionalism. In mid-1990,
Johnson's supporters split from Taylor's group and captured Monrovia for
themselves, depriving Taylor of outright victory.
The civil war turned into an ethnic conflict, with seven factions fighting for
control of Liberia's resources (especially iron ore, diamond, timber, and rubber).
Following the election of a new president in Liberia, the Nigerian government
said on March 25, 2006 that Liberia was free to collect Taylor so that he might
face war crimes charges in Liberian courts. The Nigerian government announced on
March 28 that Taylor had disappeared from his residence in Calabar, Nigeria. On
March 29, 2006, Taylor was arrested in Gamboru, along Nigeria's northeastern
border with Cameroon. Nigerian authorities put him on a plane bound for Liberia
and then handed him to the UN in Sierra Leone. On March 30, the Special Court
requested permission to use the premises of the International Criminal Court in
The Hague to carry out Taylor's trial, although the Special Court will still
conduct the proceedings of the trial. In Taylor's absence, the trial began on
June 4, 2007. He pleaded not guilty.