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Libyan leader, Moamer Gadhafi, has accused Nigeria of "betraying African solidarity" by agreeing to extradite former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who's now facing trial for war crimes in Sierra Leone.
Libyan leader, Moamer Gadhafi, has accused Nigeria of "betraying African solidarity" by agreeing to extradite former Liberian President Charles Taylor, who's now facing trial for war crimes in Sierra Leone.
"Taylor's arrest and detention is a betrayal of African solidarity," said Gadhafi, a close ally of Taylor, in a speech he delivered at a dinner honouring Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf during a weekend visit to Tripoli, reports a Monrovia daily on Tuesday.
Liberia's Heritage newspaper published the full text of Gadhafi's speech, in which the Libyan leader said Taylor, now 58, had "sacrificed himself for the sake of Liberia" when he "voluntarily gave up power ... ending a civil war that lasted 14 years".
Said he: "Things could have ended at this point, but to commit an act of aggression against him in his asylum and be transferred to a court in Sierra Leone, this was out of question when he gave up power.
"Our brother, President Olusegun Obasanjo, offered asylum to Taylor in Nigeria. Violating the right of political asylum is very dangerous matter. This is a serious precedent. It is far from African manners."
Taylor, after relinquishing power in August 2003, under intense international pressure, lived in a plush villa in Calabar, Cross River State until his hand over in March.
The Liberian president had bowed to international pressure when she asked Obasanjo to extradite Taylor, who was intercepted at the Nigerian border with Cameroon on March 29 during an attempt to flee his exile home.
He was immediately flown to Liberia, where he was arrested by the United Nations and then transferred to Freetown, capital of Sierra Leone, where he's facing trial on war crimes charges.