New York, January 17, 2008--- Africans In America News Watch investigation reveals that Charles Ghankay Taylor,  also known as (aka) Charles Ghankay Macarthur Dapkpana Taylor, former guerilla leader and warlord who later seized power and became the President of Liberia a small West African nation, who had great access to diamond-rich Sierra Leone and now standing trial in Hague has the potential of solving many questions about the key actors responsible for socio-economics, socio-political and other crises facing continental Africa today.
The high points of our study include the following;

Africans In America News Watch investigation reveals that Mr. Taylor while very experienced in his trade and may have very large contacts worldwide.

Charles Ghankay Taylor and African proverb: Comparism to proverbial forest

There is a common African proverb that says that a tree does not make forest custody. Lots of trees make up a forest.  Taking this proverb into context, therefore, dissecting and understanding the Charles Ghankay Taylor ‘forest’ may be very useful to liberate Africa and move the continent forward.

Pandora’s Box: Accomplices or innocent ‘business’ partners

To be able to dissect and fully understand this subject one has to solve some of the following puzzles;

• Did Taylor escape from prison or was he clandestinely let go.
• Who had helped him ‘escape’ or facilitated his ‘release’ from American prison, whichever is the chosen word
• Was there effort to re-arrest his after his ‘escape’? (If that was what he did); If not, why?
• How did he get back to Liberia?
• How was he recruited into the guerilla struggle in Liberia?
• Who helped him rise to the leadership of the guerilla war?
• Where did he get arms to wage the fratricidal warfare?
• Diamond questions, lots of questions (domestics and foreign): Who are the buyers, the bankers, the accountants, business partners?
• Any business partnership deals with ECOMOG, leaders of West Africa and other African nations?
• Where are the money invested and how – partners (domestics and foreign)?
• Relocation to Nigeria: How much did ‘brother’ Taylor take to Obasanjo’s Nigeria? (Correction please: Nigeria under President Obasanjo)
• What were Taylor businesses in Nigeria?

Concern for Taylor’s safety

While ‘brother’ Charles Ghankay Taylor is currently in jail awaiting investigation and prosecution, he hold with him a lot of ‘secrets’ about ‘Charles Ghankay Taylor - the African proverbial forest’.

Our investigation reveals there is widespread concern that ‘brother’ Taylor do not ‘commits suicide’ before the trial, and hence not reveal the names of his partners.

This concern is particularly echoed by numerous inquiries by African International Community (AIC) namely; Africans in the continent and in the Diaspora, (the African communities worldwide), including the dark-skinned people in the North America, West Indies and Europe, as well as western investors doing business in Africa.

However, ‘brother’ Charles Ghankay Taylor may decide to open The Pandora’s Box, put the record straight and move the continent forward.

Factors that may influence public interest justice on Taylor’s case

Purposeful African leadership: With populist leadership of President Umaru Yar’Adua in Nigeria and the hawks and hardliners surrounding him, his government may encourage ‘brother’ Taylor to open The Pandora’s Box wide and loud.

Anti-corruption leadership of Thabo Mbeki of South Africa toeing the pan-Africanist line may also encourage ‘brother’ Taylor to open up because the world knows that larger portion of the blood-diamond money was not invested in African continent. The money is helping the economy of some other countries outside the continent of Africa, for sure.

African leadership could use the Taylor case to stop the neo-colonial socio-economic exploitation of Africa and its leaders, if they choose to do so. In that case, therefore, the continent must strongly present to the United Nations that it will not accept any funny story about ‘brother’ Taylor’s health and will hold the world body responsible for his safety.

Africans In America News Watch investigation reveals that the hawks and hardliners in the corridors of various African governments are already pushing their respective governments to encourage ‘brother’ Taylor to wage final fight judicial guerilla warfare against the imperialist that use African leaders and dump them once African leaders finished serving their interests.

Africans In America News Watch investigation reveals that some African leaders see Taylor trial as opportunity for North-South struggle Africa must win by getting ‘brother’ Taylor to name all his imperialist accomplices destroying and looting Africa and those imperialist accomplices include African surrogates of imperialist forces.

Though African leaders have not taken any collective position on this concern, Nigeria government’s recent mantra, the ‘rule of law’ and South Africa government’s, ‘truth and re-conciliation’ and recent campaigns against corruption by various African governments may be some sources of worry in very many quarters as Taylor’s trial gathers steam.

Pre-Cautionary and way forward

Just for record purposes, ‘brother’ Taylor may decide to write detail notes about his rise to power with particular emphasis of his helpers and partners.

At Taylor’s request, African leaders who are not compromised by the ‘blood-diamond’ could assist the ‘brother’ with strong legal team so that all the relevant facts about his partners (Africans and others) in the pillage of the people’s resources are made public in his trial and those equally implicated should be tried and brought to justice, as well.

_________________________________ ### _________________________________
(Below is BBC Online report):

Video footage of mutilated victims of Sierra Leone rebels has been shown at the war crimes trial of Liberia's former President Charles Taylor.

Mr. Taylor - who is accused of trading weapons for diamonds - showed no emotion as the first witness, an expert on "blood diamonds", gave evidence.

The delayed trial has resumed at The Hague after a six-month delay.

Mr. Taylor is the first African former head of state to face an international war crimes court and faces 11 charges.

He denies responsibility for atrocities committed by rebels during the civil war in neighbouring Sierra Leone.

Video of a Sierra Leonean diamond miner was shown to the court, in which he described how his hands were hacked off by laughing Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels who later burned down torched his house, killing his wife and children.

The case against Mr. Taylor centres on allegations that diamonds illegally mined by rebels in Sierra Leone were exported from Liberia with Mr. Taylor's co-operation, and the proceeds from their sale used to buy weapons for the rebels.

Witness Ian Smillie, who wrote a report for the United Nations on conflict - or "blood" - diamonds, said the former RUF rebels used brutality to frighten people away from diamond fields that earned them up to $125m (£63m) a year.

He said figures showed that during the war in Sierra Leone, Liberia exported far more diamonds than it could have produced itself.

He said that when he met Mr. Taylor in 2000, the former president had told him it was "highly probable" that the former RUF rebels were dealing in diamonds, and that some of them might have been going through Liberia.

"But, he said this was not official, and he didn't know anything about it," Mr. Smillie told the court. "He said the borders were very porous and he had no control over this."

Mr. Taylor's defence objected to some of Mr. Smillie's testimony as hearsay, but most of it was accepted by the court.

The trial opened in June last year but proceedings were postponed after Mr. Taylor fired his defence lawyer and boycotted the opening of the trial.

He now has a new defence team - a senior British lawyer, who is being paid for by the court, as Mr. Taylor says he cannot afford it himself.

The BBC's Mark Doyle in The Hague says this will surprise many people in Liberia, who claim he made lots of money by selling timber and diamonds.

Mr. Taylor is accused of responsibility for the actions of Revolutionary United Front rebels during the 1991-2001 civil war in Sierra Leone, which included unlawful killings, sexual slavery, use of child soldiers and looting.

RUF fighters were also notorious for hacking off the arms and legs of the civilian population with machetes.

As the first international criminal prosecution against a former African ruler accused of misdeeds, the case is of crucial importance, our correspondent says.

Mr. Taylor has pleaded not guilty to all 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The prosecution will also be calling a Liberian witness who is said to have belonged to Mr. Taylor's inner circle.

Both witnesses are protected, which means their names have not been revealed.

In all, the prosecution intends to call 144 witnesses, though only half are likely to appear in person.

The trial is expected to last about 18 months.

It is being held in The Hague for fear that staging it in Sierra Leone might lead to fresh unrest there.

If convicted, the UK has offered to jail him - again in case his presence in West Africa led to instability.