Dispute over Taylor extradition

Charles Taylor is facing 17 counts of war crimes

Nigeria and Liberia are in disagreement over the extradition of exiled warlord and ex-president Charles Taylor.

Liberia's new leader says she wants her predecessor sent directly to the UN-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone and does not want him in Liberia.

But Nigeria says that it had agreed to hand him over to Liberia, who should now go and get him.

Nigeria says Mr Taylor is free to leave his exiled home and has not received an arrest warrant from Sierra Leone.

Mr Taylor left the presidency in Liberia for exile in Nigeria in 2003 in a deal to end the civil war, but there is uncertainty over whether he still remains in his luxury residency in Calabar.

Job done

President Olusegun Obasanjo's spokesperson Remi Oyo told Reuters news agency that Liberia's President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf had been told she "is free to come and take President Taylor into her custody".

"Our job is done, and it is done - Taylor is not a prisoner here," she was quoted as saying.

Nigeria must urgently take steps to tighten security around Taylor's villa in Calabar and should immediately take him into custody Richard Dicker, Human Rights Watch Taylor: Have Your Say Reactions in quotes

But Mrs Johnson-Sirleaf said she wanted her predecessor to be sent directly to Sierra Leone from Nigeria.

"Taylor should rather go to Sierra Leone rather than coming to Liberia," she told religious leaders at her official residence in Monrovia, according to AFP news agency.

"Mr Taylor was not indicted by a Liberian court and therefore he is not needed by a Liberian court."

Desmond de Silva, chief prosecutor of the war crimes court in Sierra Leone, has called for Mr Taylor's arrest in Nigeria, saying he was worried that the former Liberian leader may flee.

He also described Mr Taylor as one of the three most important wanted war crimes suspects in the world.

Joseph Ushigiale, spokesman for the Nigerian state where Mr Taylor is living, told the BBC's Focus on Africa programme that he was "under very good protective custody" and had taken part in the just-ended census in Nigeria.

"We can assure you Mr Taylor will not just walk away."

'Reneging on deal'

A number of Mr Taylor's supporters have been detained in Liberia amid fears they may stage an armed uprising.

A warrant was issued for Mr Taylor's arrest three years ago on 17 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity during the civil war in Sierra Leone.

TAYLOR TIMELINE 1989: Launches rebellion 1991: RUF rebellion starts in Sierra Leone 1995: Peace deal signed 1997: Elected president 1999: Lurd starts rebellion to oust Taylor June 2003: Arrest warrant issued August 2003: Steps down, goes into exile in Nigeria Profile: Charles Taylor Taylor ripples across region

The 15,000 United Nations peacekeepers in Liberia are under instructions to arrest and transfer him to the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone if he ever sets foot on Liberian soil.

A spokesman for Mr Taylor said Nigeria's move was in breach of the 2003 peace deal, which ended 14 years of civil war in Liberia, of which Mr Taylor's exile was a crucial part.

Human rights activists accuse Mr Taylor of breaking the terms of the agreement by continuing to meddle in Liberian politics.

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

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 a 10-year war.

He also started the Liberian civil war in 1989, before being elected president in 1997.