Taylor war crime trials resume

The war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor has resumed in The Hague after a six-month delay.

The court is due to hear its first witness - an expert on "blood diamonds". Mr Taylor is accused of trading diamonds for weapons.

He is the first African former head of state to face an international war crimes court and faces 11 charges.

He denies responsibility for atrocities committed by rebels during the civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone.

The trial opened in June last year but proceedings were postponed after Mr Taylor fired his defence lawyer and boycotted the opening of the trial.

He now has a new defence team - a senior British lawyer, who is being paid for by the court, as Mr Taylor says he cannot afford it himself.

The BBC's Mark Doyle in The Hague says this will surprise many people in Liberia, who claim he made lots of money by selling timber and diamonds.

The former Liberian leader, dressed in a dark suit and tie and wearing gold-rimmed glasses, showed no emotion as the proceedings got under way.

Mr Taylor is accused of responsibility for the actions of Revolutionary United Front rebels during the 1991-2001 civil war in Sierra Leone, which included unlawful killings, sexual slavery, use of child soldiers and looting.

RUF fighters were also notorious for hacking off the arms and legs of the civilian population with machetes.

As the first international criminal prosecution against a former African ruler accused of misdeeds, the case is of crucial importance, our correspondent says.

Mr Taylor has pleaded not guilty to all 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

'Blood diamonds'

The first witness to take the stand on Monday will be Ian Smillie, an expert on conflict or "blood diamonds" - so called because proceeds from their sale have been used to fuel conflicts across the African continent.

Prosecutors say Mr Taylor's desire for access to diamonds and other natural resources from Sierra Leone was one of the root causes of his alleged involvement in the war.

The prosecution will also be calling a Sierra Leonean victim and a Liberian witness who is said to have belonged to Mr Taylor's inner circle.

Both witnesses are protected, which means their names have not been revealed.

In all, the prosecution intends to call 144 witnesses, though only half are likely to appear in person.

Chief prosecutor at the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, Stephen Rapp, said: "We owe it to the victims to present some testimony in a live sense [so as] not to drain the case of the human element completely."

The trial is expected to last about 18 months.

It is being held in The Hague for fear that staging it in Sierra Leone might lead to fresh unrest there.

If convicted, the UK has offered to jail him - again in case his presence in West Africa led to instability.

BBC Online