The first witness in former Liberian president Charles Taylor's war crimes trial testified that Sierra Leone rebels backed by Taylor mutilated and terrorized civilians to seize diamond fields and that Taylor used the profits to buy weapons.
But Taylor's lawyers on Monday challenged prosecutors to present evidence that linked him to widespread murder, rape and amputations during Sierra Leone's bloody civil war.
Miners -- often slave laborers kidnapped by Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (RUF) -- dug up diamonds worth between US$60 million and US$125 million each year, said Ian Smillie, a Canadian expert on conflict diamonds.
Prosecutors allege the diamonds were smuggled through Liberia and Taylor used the proceeds to buy arms and ammunition for the rebels -- earning them the name "blood diamonds."
Taylor's trial resumed after a six month recess. It was adjourned last June after a chaotic opening day during which he boycotted proceedings and fired his lawyer.
Taylor, 59, has pleaded innocent to all 11 charges of orchestrating rape, murder and mutilation in Sierra Leone from his presidential palace in Monrovia.
Taylor is the first former African head of state to appear before an international tribunal.
Russia and Ukraine have exchanged prisoners of war in the latest such swap that saw the release of hundreds of captives and was brokered with the help of the United Arab Emirates (UAE), officials said on Monday. Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said that 189 Ukrainian prisoners, including military personnel, border guards and national guards — along with two civilians — were freed. He thanked the UAE for helping negotiate the exchange. The Russian Ministry of Defense said that 150 Russian troops were freed from captivity as part of the exchange in which each side released 150 people. The reason for the discrepancy in numbers
A shark attack off Egypt’s Red Sea coast killed a tourist and injured another, authorities said on Sunday, with an Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs source identifying both as Italian nationals. “Two foreigners were attacked by a shark in the northern Marsa Alam area, which led to the injury of one and the death of the other,” the Egyptian Ministry of Environment said in a statement. A source at the Italian foreign ministry said that the man killed was a 48-year-old resident of Rome. The injured man was 69 years old. They were both taken to hospital in Port Ghalib, about 50km north
The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland on Tuesday expressed concern about “the political crisis” in Georgia, two days after Mikheil Kavelashvili was formally inaugurated as president of the South Caucasus nation, cementing the ruling party’s grip in what the opposition calls a blow to the country’s EU aspirations and a victory for former imperial ruler Russia. “We strongly condemn last week’s violence against peaceful protesters, media and opposition leaders, and recall Georgian authorities’ responsibility to respect human rights and protect fundamental freedoms, including the freedom to assembly and media freedom,” the three ministers wrote in a joint statement. In reaction
BARRIER BLAME: An aviation expert questioned the location of a solid wall past the end of the runway, saying that it was ‘very bad luck for this particular airplane’ A team of US investigators, including representatives from Boeing, on Tuesday examined the site of a plane crash that killed 179 people in South Korea, while authorities were conducting safety inspections on all Boeing 737-800 aircraft operated by the country’s airlines. All but two of the 181 people aboard the Boeing 737-800 operated by South Korean budget airline Jeju Air died in Sunday’s crash. Video showed the aircraft, without its landing gear deployed, crash-landed on its belly and overshoot a runaway at Muan International Airport before it slammed into a barrier and burst into flames. The plane was seen having engine trouble.
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