FORMER Liberian president Charles Taylor ended 13 weeks on the witness stand yesterday by rejecting allegations he commanded rebels who murdered and mutilated thousands of civilians during Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war.
Prosecutors claim Taylor provided arms, ammunition and other support to Sierra Leone rebels in return for diamonds mined by slave labourers – in one case, smuggled out in a mayonnaise jar.
"There are no diamonds running in and out (of Liberia] by
the mayonnaise jar-full," Taylor said on what was expected to be his last full day of testifying in his own defence at his war crimes trial.
Taylor, 61, also rejected other claims included in an intelligence report compiled for an unnamed western power. The report contains allegations he had a secret Swiss bank account, an arms bunker beneath his presidential mansion in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, took bribes in cash and weapons for timber concessions and even ran an escort agency.
Taylor, the first African head of state to be indicted while in office, is expected to face prosecutors today, when they will get their first chance to question him publicly.
"We've been waiting patiently for our turn to test Mr Taylor on his version of events," the court's acting prosecutor, Joseph Kamara, said in a statement.
"We will directly challenge Mr Taylor in three ways: on the accuracy, truthfulness and completeness of his testimony."
Taylor is accused of 11 counts of murder, rape, sexual slavery, cruelty, forced labour and recruiting child soldiers as he supported rebels in neighbouring Sierra Leone. He has denied all allegations.
