Government welcomes indictment of Taylor

The government of Guinea has said it fully supports the indictment of Liberian President Charles Taylor for war crimes by the UN-backed Special Court in Sierra Leone.

An official communique read out on state radio on Thursday night said; "We urge countries of the world, particularly countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), to do all they can to ensure the speedy execution of the arrest warrant for Mr.Taylor and to cooperate with the tribunal for the achievement of peace in the sub region".

The government statment said: "This is a clear testimony to Charles Taylor's culpability in the killing of tens of thousands of innocent civillians." It congratulated the Chief Prosecutor for the Special Court for taking "such a courageous decision."

President Lansana Conte has made no secret of his hostility to Taylor, whom he blames for sending armed men into the east of Guinea to launch an abortive rebellion three years ago. But his open support for Taylor's extradition to face war crimes in another country is likely to raise eyebrows in Africa.

Governments on the continent seldom call publicly for heads of state of other countries to be held accountable in a court of law for events that took place beyond their own borders. Ghana pointedly refused to arrest Taylor, who was in Accra to attend the opening of peace talks with Liberian rebel movements, when the Special Court issued its indictment on Wednesday.

Diplomats noted that Conte's own government has given strong backing to the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel movement, which has been widely accused of treating Liberian civilians in a brutal manner.