Is the jig up for Charles Taylor?

There has been increasing pressure on Nigerian President Olesegun Obasanjo to send indicted war criminal Charles Taylor to the UN Court for Sierra Leone, where he was accused on sponsoring one of the world's most savage rebel groups.

As you may remember, the former Liberian dictator was granted asylum in Nigeria as part of a deal to end Liberia's second civil war. The deal gave Taylor impunity in exchange for him promising to stay out of Liberian politics.

Many western countries, as well as the chief prosecutor of the UN Court, have been pushing Obasanjo to send Taylor to Freetown. The Nigerian leader has angrily refused, saying that he made a promise and that his word would mean nothing if he sent the former warlord to face justice. Obasanjo claimed he was being 'intimidated and harassed' by the west and human rights groups. He hedged his bets by saying he would only extradite Taylor if the Liberian govenment itself requested it.

Now, it has. The interim government in Monrovia has called for the exile agreement be reviewed, after accusing [Taylor] of repeatedly breaking the terms of his asylum in Nigeria with daily phone calls back home and orders to supporters that could threaten peace in Liberia and beyond.

"(The) preponderance of evidence of Mr Taylor's interference in Liberian politics as well as his destabilisation efforts of the sub-region combines to provide compelling legal necessity for a review of that internationally-brokered exit agreement," said a statement from the Liberian Justice Ministry, according to IRIN. "The ex-president's current activities (include) daily phone calls to cronies in Liberia and other parts of the world, through which he issues orders and instructions, much to the detriment of peace and security of Liberia and the sub-region."

"The ex-president cannot continue to be beneficiary of this agreement in the face of increasing, compelling evidence of his notorious violation of that self-same agreement," the statement added.

Reports from research groups Global Witness and the Coalition for International Justice have said Taylor is controlling or helping to finance at least nine of the 30 or so political parties that have thrown their hat into the ring for the [11] October ballot, notes IRIN. Special Court prosecutors in Sierra Leone have accused Taylor of wiring US $160,000 to his supporters in the Liberian capital Monrovia last October to help start riots that killed 16 people and injured hundreds of others, and have named him as being involved in a January 2005 assassination attempt on ailing Guinean President Lansana Conte.

Now that those 'meddlesome western do-gooders' aren't the only ones calling for Taylor to face justice for his destruction of two countries and destabilization of an entire sub-region, hopefully Pres. Obasanjo will do the right thing.