Nigeria sets tough terms for Africa's pariahs
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Charles Taylor
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OTA, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigeria's influential president set tough terms Tuesday for two African pariahs, pledging to "persuade" indicted war criminal Charles Taylor to surrender for trial if Liberia asks and to bar Zimbabwe's president from an international summit.
Olusegun Obasanjo's comments came in a rare interview by the leader of Africa's most populous nation, conducted under a shade tree at his farm amid strutting peacocks and a sunning baby crocodile.
The Nigerian leader has strongly resisted U.S. congressional pressure to turn ousted Liberian president Taylor over for prosecution on a U.N.-backed indictment for war crimes committed in Sierra Leone. (Full story)
A former warlord blamed in much of the recent bloodshed in West Africa, Taylor has lived in exile in southern Nigeria since August, when he fled under international pressure and a rebel siege of Liberia's capital, Monrovia.
The Liberian government that succeeded Taylor has not said it wants him for trial. Instead, interim leader Gyude Bryant, appointed under an August 18 peace deal, has said Taylor should go to neighboring Sierra Leone to face charges there.
However, if the Liberian government decides it wants him to face charges at home, "then I believe he will understand sufficiently the need to go home," Obasanjo said.
Asked what he would do if Taylor resisted, Obasanjo responded, "I would persuade him."
It would be difficult for Taylor to resist such a request from Obasanjo, who has set restrictions on Taylor's exile. The ex-warlord is barred from speaking to the media and banned from meddling in Nigerian politics. Taylor is also required to give advance notice of any travel plans, although Obasanjo says he can leave if he wants to.
"Taylor is a free man" in Nigeria, Obasanjo said, adding, "I believe he is sufficiently secure."
A Libyan-trained guerrilla, Taylor launched Liberia into conflict in 1989 at the head of what started out as a small insurgency. The years of fighting that followed killed an estimated 250,000 Liberians.
He emerged from the country's seven-year civil war in 1996 as Liberia's strongest warlord, and won presidential elections in 1997. Rebels launched their ultimately successful fight to oust him two years later.
With Taylor in exile, the Bush administration has disavowed moves by the Congress to fund a $2 million reward for his capture and to sanction Nigeria for giving him asylum. (Full story)
Still, the congressional moves angered the Obasanjo administration, which warned it considered a reward a potential threat to Nigeria's sovereignty.
On Tuesday, Obasanjo suggested the U.S. push for Taylor's capture was dead. There were "elements in the United States who were well-meaning but misguided, misdirected and misinformed," he said.
"There was not enough communication even between the executive government and the legislature," Obasanjo said of the United States. "But I believe the information gap has been filled."
In Washington, Secretary of State Colin Powell met Tuesday with his Nigerian counterpart, Oluyemi Adeniji. Powell said afterward they had not discussed Taylor's situation, though he had seen reports of Obasanjo's willingness to hand Taylor over.
"We continue to believe Mr. Taylor must face justice awaiting him before the tribunal," Powell said.
Holding his first interview with foreign journalists since his April re-election, Obasanjo reiterated his pledge to fight graft in Nigeria, a nation of 126 million people. It is still regarded as one of the world's most corrupt, more than four years after his civilian administration replaced brutal military rulers in 1999.
Reporters dined with him on traditional Nigerian cuisine including beef stew, fish and gizzard. Soft-spoken and chuckling at times, Obasanjo talked about his hobby farm, which raises chickens, ostriches, emus and grasscutters -- forest rodents widely considered a delicacy in West Africa.
During the interview, Obasanjo also ruled out President Robert Mugabe's attendance at a summit of heads of state of the British Commonwealth, set for December 5-8 in Nigeria's capital, Abuja.
Mugabe, the president of Zimbabwe, said last week he expects to attend -- heightening the threat of a boycott by Queen Elizabeth II and the prime ministers of Britain, Australia, Canada, New Zealand and Pacific nations.
"He will not have an invitation," Obasanjo said of Mugabe. "He can come on a bilateral basis, but not during" the summit.
Zimbabwe was suspended by the Commonwealth after Mugabe's disputed re-election in 2002.
Commonwealth Secretary General Don McKinnon and Australian Prime Minister John Howard have repeatedly criticized Mugabe for human rights violations in Zimbabwe. Some members of the 54-nation Commonwealth have warned Mugabe's presence could split the organization.
The president said he hoped Zimbabwe would not overshadow other matters at the summit, including forging trade and aid ties between rich Western and underdeveloped nations of the southern hemisphere.
Copyright 2003 The
Associated Press. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
