Former Liberian president denies all at war crimes trial

Speaking at his war crimes tribunal in The Hague, former Liberian president Charles Taylor has denied all charges of instigating murder, rape, mutilation, sexual slavery and the conscription of child soldiers during brutal decade-long civil wars that spilled over the border of Liberia and Sierra Leone. He also denied supplying arms to Sierra Leone rebels, blaming Britain and the US for supplying weapons to the region to depose him. He said after he fled to Nigeria, the country’s then-leader reneged on a promise to let him leave freely, leading to his arrest in 2006. Sudan’s President Omar al-Bashir, accused by the International Criminal Court of war crimes in Darfur, must be watching the trial closely.

Read more: BBC, Reuters