UNITED NATIONS (AP) - The United States has circulated a resolution calling on U.N. peacekeepers in Liberia to arrest former Liberian President Charles Taylor if he returns and hand him over to the war crimes tribunal in Sierra Leone for prosecution. The draft resolution, obtained Monday by the Associated Press, would give the nearly 15,000-strong peacekeeping force authority to apprehend Taylor, who was given asylum in Nigeria after giving up the presidency in August 2003, "in the event of a return to Liberia."Taylor resigned and fled the country as part of a peace deal brokered as rebels besieged the Liberian capital, Monrovia. He was later indicted by the U.N.-backed war-crimes tribunal for backing Sierra Leone rebels in their insurgency, but Nigeria granted him asylum and has refused to hand him over to the court.
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The draft resolution expresses appreciation to Nigeria and its president, Olusegun Obasanjo, "for their contributions to restoring stability in the West African sub-region."
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It would therefore expand the mandate of the U.N. peacekeeping force in Liberia to take Taylor into custody and take steps to have him transfered to the tribunal in Sierra Leone.
Richard Grenell, spokesman for the U.S. Mission, said Security Council experts would meet Tuesday to discuss the draft. The United States came up with the idea for the resolution about three months ago, but put it aside because it did not believe it had enough support until now, he said.
Last week, the court's chief prosecutor, Desmond De Silva, said the tribunal is pressing Nigeria to hand over Taylor and is searching for Johnny Paul Koroma, a rebel leader who was reported to be alive last year. The tribunal wants to prosecute both before it wraps up its work in about 18 months. But even if the tribunal closes, they will not escape prosecution if they are found afterwards, De Silva warned.