'Blood diamond' trial: the case against Charles Taylor

[Judi Lynn]

'Blood diamond' trial: the case against Charles Taylor

Charles Taylor has spent the last three years on trial before the war crimes tribunal in The Hague over accusations that as Liberian president he funded years of atrocities in neighbouring Sierra Leone in return for "blood diamonds".

By Aislinn Laing, Johannesburg
7:30AM BST 16 Jun 2011

He was the first ever African head of state to face an international tribunal. Aside from distracting details about his flirtation with supermodel Naomi Campbell, uncut jewels and dining with Nelson Mandela, the aim of the Special Court for Sierra Leone could not be more serious: to seek justice for the hundreds of thousands of victims of a vicious civil war.

Taylor stands accused of accepting "mayonnaise jars" stuffed with diamonds dug by anti-government rebels – and the civilians they forced to work at gunpoint – from Sierra Leone's rust-coloured earth which were then smuggled across the jungle border to Monrovia.

In return, US-educated and Libya-trained Taylor sent back weapons largely purchased on the black market because of a UN arms embargo placed on Liberia. Among those he is alleged to have traded with was Russian Viktor Bout, on whom the Nicholas Cage film Lord of War is partly based.

The Sierra Leone civil war claimed some 120,000 lives in the 10 years to 2001, with Revolutionary United Front rebels mutilating thousands of civilians who had their hands and arms severed.

More:
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/africaandindianocean/liberia/8578540/Blood-diamond-trial-the-case-against-Charles-Taylor.html

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You may recall fundamentalist tv preacher/faith healer/speaker of tongues Pat Robertson has been Taylor's fast friend for years:

Prosecutor: Pat Robertson Had Gold Deal with African Dictator
By ANNA SCHECTER
Feb. 4, 2010

Prosecutors at the human rights trial of former Liberian warlord Charles Taylor alleged Thursday that Christian televangelist Pat Robertson had lobbied the White House on Taylor's behalf in return for a gold mining contract.

The controversial pastor and former Republican presidential contender met with then-President George W. Bush on Taylor's behalf, prosecutors charged during cross-examination of Taylor in a Dutch courtroom, allegedly in return for a contract to mine gold in southeast Liberia -- a contract they say that Taylor had no legal right to grant.

Lead Prosecutor Brenda Hollis questioned Taylor about how he may have skirted the Liberian legislature in order to get Robertson his gold mining contracts.

"Mr. Taylor, even the legislature in place in 1999 actually refused to ratify this agreement you had with Pat Robertson. Isn't that correct?" asked Hollis.

More:
http://abcnews.go.com/Blotter/pat-robertsons-gold-deal-african-dictator/story?id=9749341

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How does christ's statement go, concerning being easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of heaven? Would that include "Rev." Pat Robertson who claims he can lift a ton with his legs? We already know he can lift a huge amount of gold from Liberia.

[bulloney]

1. What does that old charlatan Pat Robertson have to say about this trial?

Any chance he can be implicated in any way in this case?

Robertson's motto: My desire to make a buck supersedes your right to exist.