Q&A: Trying Charles Taylor

Troops loyal to Mr Taylor were renowned for their brutality

The war-crimes trial of former Liberian leader Charles Taylor has resumed in The Hague. His case has its roots in the instability and conflicts that plagued Liberia and Sierra Leone in the 1990s.

Who is Charles Taylor?

Charles Taylor started Liberia's civil war as a warlord in 1989, before being elected president in 1997.

He ruled for six years before heading into exile in Nigeria.

In August 2003, with rebels already in the capital, he agreed to a deal to go to Calabar in southern Nigeria to end the conflict.

What is he accused of?

He faces 11 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity over his alleged role in the brutal civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone, where he is accused of backing rebels responsible for widespread atrocities.

TAYLOR TIMELINE 1989 Launches rebellion in Liberia 1991 RUF rebellion starts in Sierra Leone 1995 Peace deal signed 1997 Elected president 1999 Liberia's Lurd rebels start insurrection to oust Taylor June 2003 Arrest warrant issued August 2003 Steps down, goes into exile in Nigeria March 2006 Arrested, sent to Sierra Leone June 2007 Trial opens in The Hague Profile: Charles Taylor

Mr Taylor is accused of selling diamonds and buying weapons for Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front rebels, who were notorious for hacking off the hands and legs of civilians during their decade-long war.

Tens of thousands of people died in the interlinked conflicts in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Instability also spread into neighbouring parts of Ivory Coast and Guinea.

Human rights activists have accused Mr Taylor of being at the centre of a West Africa-wide web of armed groups.

The United Nations-backed court in Sierra Leone sought his extradition to face justice in Freetown, where others alleged to have committed war crimes are already on trial.

The court's chief prosecutor once said Mr Taylor was the third most wanted war crimes suspect in the world.

How did the trial come about?

He was given asylum in Nigeria in order to end Liberia's civil war.

Human rights groups accused him of breaking the terms of that deal by continuing to meddle in Liberian politics.

Nigeria always said it would not extradite him to Sierra Leone, but would send him back to Liberia after the two-year transitional period if the new government there requested it. Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf took office in January 2006 and made an extradition request shortly afterwards.

A few months later, Nigeria's President Olusegun Obasanjo said that Liberia's new government was free to take Mr Taylor into custody.

Then he disappeared.

However, he was recaptured and Nigeria repatriated him to Liberia and a UN helicopter took him to Sierra Leone and into the custody of the tribunal.

His arrest was greeted as a sign that African warlords would no longer enjoy impunity.

Why is the trial being held in the Hague?

The trial is being held in the Hague, not by the International Criminal Court but by a United-Nations backed Special Court for Sierra Leone. This special court had been created to hold all of its proceedings in Sierra Leone, to allow victims of these alleged crimes to see justice at work.

But, the case was moved to the Netherlands for fear of fresh instability in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

Before the transfer, a court in Freetown heard in April last year the 11 charges against him.

What happens next?

The trial is scheduled to last 18 months.

Mr Taylor boycotted the opening of his trial, protesting he did not believe he would receive a fair trial.

The key point in the trial will not be whether Mr Taylor committed the acts himself.

The argument will be about whether he ordered, supported or condoned such acts. The former president will argue that he did not.

If he is found guilty, he would serve his term in the United Kingdom.