Charles Taylor to serve 50-year jail term in UK

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.
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.
Mr Wright made the announcement in a
written statement to Parliament.
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.
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.
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.