 Charles Taylor's former vice president and successor as Liberia's leader has
testified that he never saw Taylor engage in cannibalism or heard him order his
fighters to eat their slain enemies.
In testimony at Taylor's war crimes trial, Moses Blah refused to rule out,
however, that Taylor ate human flesh or ordered his troops to do so.
In March, a witness told the Special Court for Sierra Leone that Taylor
ordered fighters in his National Patriotic Front of Liberia to eat their enemies
as a way of striking terror into his opponents.
Joseph Marzah, who described himself as Taylor's chief of operations and head
of a death squad before Taylor became president, said African peacekeepers and
even United Nations personnel were killed and eaten on the battlefield by
Taylor's militiamen. He also said he had sat with Taylor as he ate a human
liver.
Mr Blah, who said his own cousin was killed and cannibalised in 1985 by
forces loyal to former Liberian dictator Samuel Doe, told judges that he had
"never heard such an order from Mr Taylor" but he could not vouch for every
second of Taylor's time.
Taylor has pleaded not guilty to murder, rape, torture and enlisting child
soldiers during Sierra Leone's 10-year civil war, which ended in 2002. He is
accused of pulling the rebels' strings from his headquarters in Liberia's
capital, Monrovia.
Mr Blah, 61, was speaking under cross examination by Taylor's lawyer,
Courtenay Griffiths. In testimony last week, he told the court he saw one of
Taylor's fighters in Liberia roasting and eating a man's hands.
He acknowledged that he had received thousands of dollars from the court and
immunity from prosecution by investigators who questioned him about Taylor's
rule.
He said the money was to help him cover medical, travel and security costs.
He has told the court he has a heart condition and that his family has received
death threats as a result of his decision to testify against Taylor.
The trial is being held in a courtroom rented from the International Criminal
Court in The Hague because of fears prosecuting him in Sierra Leone could spark
new violence.
The
Press Association: Taylor 'may have eaten human flesh
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