Sierra Leone Court Criticizes Ghana Officials for Not Arresting Liberian President at Peace Talks

The Special Court for Sierra Leone has criticized Ghanaian officials for failing to arrest Charles Taylor, the President of Liberia, who has an indictment against him, during his visit to Ghana for peace negotiations. A spokesperson for the Special Court, supported by the United Nations, stated that the indictment against Charles Taylor was communicated to Ghanaian authorities yesterday; however, Ghanaian officials allowed the Liberian leader to return to his country by plane. Officials in Accra, the capital of Ghana, claimed that the indictment for the extradition of Mr. Taylor as a war criminal had not reached them. The war crimes court issued a statement yesterday saying that the prosecutor has accused Mr. Taylor of committing crimes against humanity during a decade of civil war in Sierra Leone. The indictment was deliberately issued shortly after Mr. Taylor's attendance at the opening ceremony of peace talks in Accra, coinciding with his travel outside Liberia.