Liberia’s Charles Taylor behind bars at war-crimes tribunal
FREETOWN, Sierra Leone — A handcuffed Charles Taylor was flown to Sierra Leone Wednesday after he was captured carrying sacks of cash, opening the way for the former Liberian president to become the first African head of state tried for war crimes by an international court.
Looking dejected, Taylor was led behind a razor-wired gate to the holding penitentiary at the U.N.-backed Sierra Leone court that has indicted him on 17 counts of crimes against humanity for supporting brutal rebels. On Tuesday night, police caught Taylor in northern Nigeria, wearing a safari suit and carrying sacks full of dollars and euros in his car, which bore diplomatic plates. He was trying to cross the border to Cameroon. He was captured nearly 600 miles from the villa in southern Calabar where he lived in exile and from which he reportedly disappeared Monday night.
Taylor’s imprisonment was a watershed moment for the tribunal and for West Africa, a region long shaken by Taylor’s warmongering
Congresswoman in scuffle with police
WASHINGTON — Rep. Cynthia McKinney and a police officer scuffled Wednesday after the Georgia Democrat entered a House office building unrecognized and refused to stop when asked, according to U.S. Capitol Police.
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McKinney, a sixth-term congresswoman who represents suburban Atlanta, struck the officer according to one account, a police official said.
The officer, who was not authorized to speak publicly about the incident, spoke only on condition of anonymity.
No charges were filed, police said.
Officials in McKinney’s office refused two requests for comment.
Capitol Police spokeswoman Sgt. Kimberly Schneider said only that senior officials have been made aware of the incident and are investigating.
Members of Congress do not have to walk through metal detectors as they enter buildings on the Capitol complex. They wear lapel pins identifying them as members.
McKinney routinely doesn’t wear her pin and is recognized by many officers, the police official said, adding that she wasn’t wearing it when she entered a House office building early Wednesday.<
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Keep the discussion civilized. Absolutely NO personal attacks or insults directed toward writers, nor others who make comments.
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PLEASE TURN OFF YOUR CAPS LOCK.
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