US sect leader due to stand trial

Mr Jeffs was arrested last year after a chance stop by traffic police

The trial is due to begin in Utah this week of a US polygamist sect leader accused of coercing a 14-year-old girl into marriage with her older cousin.

Warren Jeffs, 51, has been in custody since August 2006, when he was arrested in Nevada after 15 months on the run.

He has pleaded not guilty to two counts of being an accomplice to rape. If convicted, he could face life in jail.

Mr Jeffs leads the Fundamentalist Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints (FLDS) in Arizona and Utah.

The sect leader went into hiding after being charged in Arizona with sexual misconduct for allegedly arranging marriages between minors and older men.

He was on the FBI's Ten Most Wanted list at the time of his arrest, which came when he was pulled over during a routine check by traffic police near Las Vegas.

'Religious duty'

Jury selection for the trial began in St George, Utah, on Monday. The charges in Utah are being prosecuted before those in Arizona because they are more serious.

At a preliminary hearing, the accuser - who was 14 at the time of the alleged offence in 2001 - told the court that she had objected to the marriage to her 19-year-old cousin but eventually gave in under pressure.

She testified that she was told by Mr Jeffs that it was her religious duty to marry and have children.

She went to the authorities after leaving her husband.

Mr Jeffs, who is reputed to have 70 wives, took over the leadership of the church after his father Rulon died in 2002.

The 10,000-strong sect split from the Mormon Church more than a century ago after the latter renounced polygamy.

It dominates the towns of Colorado City, in Arizona, and Hildale, Utah, less than a mile away. A compound in Eldorado, Texas, is also home to a growing community.

Members believe a man must marry at least three wives in order to ascend to heaven. Women are taught that their path to heaven depends on being subservient to their husband.

Polygamy is illegal in the US, but the authorities have reportedly been reluctant to confront the FLDS for fear of sparking a tragedy similar to the 1993 siege of the Branch Davidian sect in Waco, Texas, which led to the deaths of about 80 members.

However, observers say the church is coming under increasing pressure from authorities in Utah and Arizona.