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 THE HAGUE (AFP) — A former insider working for Charles Taylor's security
services told the war crimes trial of the former Liberian president Wednesday
that Taylor gave money and weapons to RUF rebels in Sierra Leone.
Taylor is accused of arming, training and controlling the Revolutionary
United Front (RUF) rebels in Sierra Leone in exchange for still-unknown
quantities of diamonds. The prosecution is relying on so-called insider
witnesses to establish a link between Taylor and the rebels who committed
atrocities on the ground in Sierra Leone.
Varmuyan Sherif, who worked for Taylor's Special Security Service and
organized his motorcade, was ordered by Taylor to accompany RUF leader Sam
Bockarie on a trip to Liberia in late 1998 or early 1999.
Bockarie, also known as Mosquito, met with Taylor and apparently recounted
the details of that meeting to Sherif who was bringing him back to Sierra Leone.
"Sam Bockarie told me: '(Taylor) gave me money, I have money and he gave me a
satellite phone so anytime I want I can communicate with that person (Taylor),'"
Sherif told the court, recounting Bockarie's version of the events.
After bringing Bockarie back to Sierra Leone, Sherif met again with Taylor
who told him to bring weapons to the RUF and secure a safe passage for the
fighters to Monrovia.
"Taylor called me back and said whatever arms and ammunition I am bringing
into Monrovia I could bring them to Sam Bockarie," he told the judges.
"He also said I should speak to the former fighters in Lofa county (close to
the border with Sierra Leone) that there should be an open corridor and nobody
should harm RUF fighters" who crossed into Liberia, Sherif added.
Sherif worked directly under Benjamin Yeaten whom prosecutors said was
Taylor's right hand man and the principal liaison between the Liberian president
and the forces in Sierra Leone.
Taylor faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity including
terrorising the civilian population, murder, rape and the use of child soldiers.
He has pleaded not guilty.
According to the prosecution of the Special Court for Sierra Leone Taylor
controlled RUF rebel forces in neighbouring Sierra Leone who went on a blood
diamond-funded rampage of killing, mutilation and rape during the 1991-2001
civil war.
Around 120,000 people were killed in the conflict, with rebels mutilating
thousands more, cutting off arms, legs, ears or noses.
Sherif told the court of various trips he or his subordinates made to Sam
Bockarie to give him arms and ammunition. He also recalled seeing the RUF leader
on two occasions in Monrovia, where Bockarie met with Taylor's right-hand man
Yeaten. Sherif told judges that he overheard Yeaten instructing Bockarie to
launch an RUF attack from Sierra Leone on neighbouring Guinea.
The prosecution is trying to prove that Taylor supported and financed the
rebels in return for so-called blood diamonds that the rebels mined in Sierra
Leone.
Sherif told the judges that on one trip with Bockarie he noticed the RUF
leader was carrying diamonds.
"I saw a mayonnaise bottle in his pocket and I realized there were diamonds
in there," he said.
"One of my senior officers even said we can take these diamonds and go away
to another country," he added.
AFP:
Security aide tells of Taylor's meetings with Sierra Leone warlord
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