Switzerland blocks Taylor's accounts

Switzerland has ordered its banks to block any accounts held by Liberian President Charles Taylor, his relatives and members of his government, following a request by the UN-backed Special Court set up to try war crimes suspects in Sierra Leone. The Court published an indictment against Taylor earlier this month, accusing him of being one of the main perpetrators of war crimes and crimes against humanity during Sierra Leone's civil war of 1991-2001. It believes the Liberian leader supported rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) who killed, raped and amputated thousands of civilians. Diplomats say Taylor received uncut diamonds from Sierra Leone in return for supporting the rebels. "He is claimed to have invested the proceeds from the diamond sales in a number of countries, including Switzerland," the Swiss Federal Office of Justice said in a statement on Monday. David Crane, the Special Court Prosecutor said: "The money may be evidence of the joint criminal enterprise that we allege Taylor, with several other indictees, conducted in Sierra Leone over a period of years. In conjunction with the Swiss, we will work to disentangle Taylor’s finances and identify the profits he reaped from his criminal activity here." The Court indicted Taylor secretly on 7 March, but only announced the indictment publicly on 4 June as the Liberian leader attended the opening of peace talks with rebels in Ghana. Taylor has since demanded that the indictment be lifted "for the sake of peace in Liberia". But the Court insists he must face the law. The Swiss government said the value of Liberian assets frozen was not immediately known. However, international news agencies reported that Swiss banks had declared US $1.5 billion in deposits belonging to private and public interests in Liberia. The Liberian government meanwhile reported a fresh upsurge in fighting with rebel forces at the weekend, despite a ceasefire agreement signed in Accra last Tuesday. It also raised tension with neighbouring Sierra Leone by accusing the government in Freetown of actively supporting the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel group and helping it to prepare a fresh attack on Monrovia. The Sierra Leonean government denied these charges, but expressed concern over the safety of its nationals living in Liberia. Taylor accused Sierra Leone of being "responsible for the killing of over 300 persons during the assault on Monrovia," in a radio talk show on Sunday, "We are not guessing, we have arrested some Sierra Leonean POWs who gave us full details," Taylor said. He accused Sierra Leonean Kamajor fighters, traditional hunters who fought alongside the army against the RUF during the country's 1991-2001 civil war, of crossing the border to fight for LURD in Liberia. Taylor said his indictment by the Special Court was a hostile challenge to the entire government of Liberia. He said it was "not about Charles Taylor", adding: "This is Sierra Leone versus Liberia. I guess if they want to disgrace a government and people, they think they have an opportunity. The Liberian people are in the fighting mood to ensure that this does not a happen." LURD rebels overran Monrovia's western suburbs two weeks ago, but withdrew to pave way for a ceasefire agreement that was signed in Ghana on 17 June. More than 100,000 people were displaced by the fighting and the government said over 300 were killed. The ceasefire led to a resumption of peace talks between the the government, LURD and another rebel group, the Movement for Democracy in Liberia (MODEL). Together the two rebel movements occupied over two thirds of Liberia. Within hours of the truce being declared, the rebels accused the government of continuing to attack their positions. But on Sunday it was the turn of the government to complain that LURD and MODEL forces were attacking its own forces on several fronts. It also accused Sierra Leone of arming LURD for a fresh assault on Monrovia. "The ministry of national defense has received credible reports that the terrorist movement, LURD, with the consent of the Sierra Leonean government has again amassed more than 2,000 troops in preparation for another attack on Monrovia," a government statement said. "The reports indicate that the newly recruited men, mainly Sierra Leoneans and Guineans, secured a large quantity of arms and ammunition which are currently being transported through Bo-Waterside to beef up the LURD, who are already regrouping in Tubmanburg." Bo-Waterside is on the border between Liberia and Sierra Leone, while Tubmanburg is the provincial headquarters of Bomi county, 50 km northwest of the capital. The statement said LURD had attacked government positions at Kley junction on the road from Tubmanburg to Monrovia. It also said that the Guinean army had fired artillery shells across the border to support the LURD in its assault on Ganta a border town 250 km northeast of the capital. Ganta, which has changed hands several times in recent months, lies at a strategic crossroads on the trade routes between Monrovia, Guinea and Ivory Coast. "The shelling started late yesterday (Saturday) and has continued throughout Sunday with reports of casualties and massive destruction," the Liberian government statement said. However, LURD Secretary General Joe Gbala told IRIN in the Guinean capital Conakry on Monday that his forces were merely responding to attacks by the government. "We did not violate the ceasefire and we never will," he said. Gbala said government troops had been attacking LURD positions since the day the ceasefire was signed because "Taylor wants to regain territory we have captured from his men". He said fierce battles were raging at Kley, the Po River Bridge, 15km along the road from Kley to Monrovia, Ganta and Bo-Waterside. "We want the international community to take note of this",he added:"While we hope for the best in this situation,we are also prepared for the worst". Despite his own presence in Conakry, Gbala said: "We deny getting any support from Guinea...Taylor knows our military capabilities". The Guinean government refused to comment on Liberian government claims that Guinean troops on the Liberian border were helping LURD. But a senior military official privately denied the allegations. "Our troops are in the area solely to secure our own side of the frontier", he said. James Patrick Foya, Sierra Leone's ambassador to Liberia, told a news conference on Sunday that Taylor's allegations against his government were "absurd". He said thousands of Sierra Leoneans living in Liberia had expressed fears for their safety following the president's comments. "Assuming that some group of people calling themselves Kamajors were arrested by the government of Liberia forces during the attack on LURD, it would be inaccurate to conclude that their participation was done with the knowledge and support of the government of Sierra Leone," Foya said. The reports of renewed heavy fighting between government and rebel forces came amid news of a fresh delay in the dispatch of a Joint Verification Team to Liberia to establish the positions occupied by each of the warring parties at the time of the ceasefire. The team, comprised of international military observers, government and rebel officials, was due to start work at the weekend. Diplomats said on Monday they were sorting out routine administrative issues before its arrival.