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| Liberia's Charles Taylor to serve jail term in UK | Liberia's Charles Taylor to serve jail term in UK |
| (35 minutes later) | |
| Ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor is to serve his 50-year war crimes sentence in the UK, Justice Minister Jeremy Wright has confirmed. | Ex-Liberian President Charles Taylor is to serve his 50-year war crimes sentence in the UK, Justice Minister Jeremy Wright has confirmed. |
| Sweden and Rwanda had also offered to imprison him following the rejection of his appeal last month by a UN-backed special court in The Hague. | Sweden and Rwanda had also offered to imprison him following the rejection of his appeal last month by a UN-backed special court in The Hague. |
| It ruled that his convictions had been proved beyond doubt. | It ruled that his convictions had been proved beyond doubt. |
| He was sentenced in May 2012 for aiding rebels who committed atrocities in Sierra Leone during its civil war. | He was sentenced in May 2012 for aiding rebels who committed atrocities in Sierra Leone during its civil war. |
| Mr Wright made the announcement in a written statement to Parliament, saying that international justice was central to UK foreign policy. | |
| "It is essential for securing the rights of individuals and states, and for securing peace and reconciliation," he said. | |
| "The conviction of Charles Taylor is a landmark moment for international justice. | |
| "It clearly demonstrates that those who commit atrocities will be held to account and that no matter their position they will not enjoy impunity." | |
| The Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL) found Taylor, 65, guilty of 11 crimes including terrorism, rape, murder and the use of child soldiers by rebel groups in neighbouring Sierra Leone during the 1991-2002 conflict in which some 50,000 people died. | |
| He was found to have supplied weapons to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in exchange for a constant flow of so-called blood diamonds. | He was found to have supplied weapons to the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in exchange for a constant flow of so-called blood diamonds. |
| The rebels were notorious for hacking off the limbs of civilians to terrorise the population. | |
| Taylor has always insisted he is innocent and his only contact with the rebels was to urge them to stop fighting. | Taylor has always insisted he is innocent and his only contact with the rebels was to urge them to stop fighting. |
| He is the first former head of state convicted by an international war crimes court since World War II. | He is the first former head of state convicted by an international war crimes court since World War II. |
| UK forces intervened in Sierra Leone in 2000 to protect and evacuate foreign citizens caught up in Sierra Leone's civil war and subsequently stayed on to help train the government army. | |
| According to the Press Association, it is not the first time the UK has imprisoned foreign nationals convicted of war crimes. | |
| Four men convicted of war crimes in the former Yugoslavia served time in British high-security prisons - one former Bosnian-Serb general was stabbed at Wakefield prison in apparent retaliation for the massacre of Muslims in the UN safe haven of Srebrenica in 1995, the agency reports. | |
| The UK also offered to jail the former President of Yugoslavia, Slobodan Milosevic, had he been convicted at his trial in The Hague on charges of war crimes and genocide. | |
| However, he died in 2006 while on trial. |