Union to freeze finances of Liberian despot

By David Cronin

Date: 29/04/04

EU GOVERNMENTS are set to order the freezing of all funds belonging to Charles Taylor, the brutal former Liberian president now in exile in Nigeria.

Last month the UN Security Council sought a global freeze on Taylor's assets, as well as those of his henchmen and close family. Ireland's EU presidency has asked the Council of Ministers to endorse the call in Luxembourg today (29 April).

Taylor is believed to have amassed a vast personal fortune - possibly amounting to several billions of euro - through the illegal smuggling of arms and diamonds. His wealth is scattered throughout the world. In a letter to European Parliament President Pat Cox, Ireland's EU ambassador Anne Anderson said a swift EU decision is necessary, particularly "in the case of assets freezes where funds can be moved quickly".

Despite going into exile in Nigeria last year, a probe undertaken at the UN's behest concluded in November last that he was continuing to divert Liberian government revenues. He was accused too of trying to undermine the transition to democracy in Monrovia as an interim government there desperately needs finances.

Taylor was the dominant political figure in Liberia during a 15-year period, which saw more than 100,000 people lose their lives in a violent conflict. He has also been indicted for war crimes by a UN-sponsored tribunal investigating the 1991-2002 civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone. His forces were allies of the Revolutionary United Front in Sierra Leone, whose guerrillas developed a fearsome reputation for such atrocities as hacking off civilians' limbs. Since the indictment, Washington has been pressurizing Lagos into handing him over for trial. The US Congress has approved a bounty of €1.7 million for Taylor's capture and delivery.

http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmil/ http://www.un.org/Depts/dpko/missions/unmil/

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