[JURIST] Nigerian President and current African Union chair Olusegun Obasanjo told the UN General Assembly Saturday at the opening of its regular 60th anniversary session that former Liberian president Charles Taylor, indicted [text] by the Special Court for Sierra Leone [official website] on 17 counts of war crimes committed during his 15-year rule, should for now stay in exile in Nigeria rather than returning to face trial. Obasanjo said that the peace process in Liberia was at a critical stage and having Taylor come back for trial at this point would do more harm than good. Court prosecutors [JURIST report] and the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Louis Arbour [JURIST report] have called for Taylor to be delivered for trial as soon as possible. Obasanjo and President Bush discussed how Taylor might be brought to trial [JURIST report] during the Nigerian leader's latest visit to the White House in May. Read the full text of Obasanjo's address [PDF]. The UN News Center has more.
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