Reuters, Tuesday, November 25, 2003; 1:33 PM
OTA, Nigeria (Reuters) - Nigeria would hand over former Liberian President Charles Taylor to Liberia if that country wanted to try him for war crimes, President Olusegun Obasanjo said Tuesday. The Nigerian leader, who gave Taylor asylum in August as part of a peace deal for Liberia, has previously resisted surrendering Taylor to face an indictment by a U.N.-backed war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone.
But Obasanjo said he would "persuade him" to go to Liberia if that country sought to try him. "If Liberia asks him to come home and face something I believe he will understand sufficiently the need to go," he told foreign journalists at his farm near Lagos.
Some reports have the ex-Liberian leader "understanding" the situation clearly enough that he is making a frantic series of phone calls looking for another refuge, with little luck. "The Libyans won't talk to him," said one source who wish to remain nameless rather than go armless. "Which is kind of shoddy of them - I mean, Taylor was their guy for years. Is it his fault Libya decided to clean up its act?" The Libyan embassy in Washington, asked to comment, replied "No Hablamos Ingles."
Taylor's next choice is said to be Zimbabwe, a country whose ruinous misrule by a megalomaniacal tyrant would "make him feel right at home," according to a source in the Zimbabwean Ministry of Screwing Things Up. However, the existence of a Two Million US$ bounty on his head, courtesy of the United States, has made Taylor reluctant to travel to countries whose potentates are facing shortages of hard currency.
"He had an offer from Burkina Faso," said one aide. But a quick look at the map shows that Burkina Faso shares a border with Ivory Coast, which is apparently still miffed at some of Taylor's shenanigans in next-door Liberia. "He won't go anywhere that's within a helicopter ride of anybody who wants him dead," said the aide, "which is really ruling out a lot of places." The aide displayed a world map. Largely covered with hundreds of crosshatched circles. "Maybe St. Helena?" mused the aide. "What do you think?"
In fact, Taylor is said to be increasingly unhappy with his place in Nigeria, especially with the presence nearby of former warlord rival and reformed homicidal maniac Prince Johnson. Johnson hasn't done anything yet," said one neighbor, "but he keeps going by the place and yelling 'Hey Charley! The Reward's Up to Two Mil! How much you think they'd give me for just your head?' He's kidding, of course, but Taylor doesn't seem to be taking it well." Aides to Johnson assured this reporter he was serious.
Remember, Kids, the part in bold is actual 100% news-flavored media product.
The rest is the fakey part.
Home Previous Lines of the Day
