THE HAGUE, Netherlands AP – Former Liberian president Charles Taylor will take the stand Tuesday to assert that he was trying to bring peace to Sierra Leone with his actions during a savage civil war that left hundreds of thousands dead or mutilated, his attorney said.
The first African head of state to be tried by an international court is charged with 11 counts of murder, torture, rape, sexual slavery, using child soldiers and spreading terror. Prosecutors at the U.N.-backed court say he backed Sierra Leone rebels to help gain control of the neighboring country and strip it of its vast mineral wealth.
