Prometheus 6   

Liberia challenges warrant for president

THE HAGUE - Liberia has asked the United Nations International Court of Justice, also known as the World Court, to either cancel or withdraw the indictment and arrest warrant issued by Sierra Leone's war crimes court against Liberian president Charles Taylor, ICJ documents published yesterday show.

"Liberia contends that the arrest warrant of Charles Taylor violates customary international law and impugns the honour and reputation of the presidency and its sovereignty," according to an ICJ statement.

The UN-backed Special Court in Sierra Leone charged Taylor in June with atrocities committed during Sierra Leone's 11-year civil war and issued an international arrest warrant against him.

Liberia has asked the ICJ, the highest judiciary organ of the United Nations set up to deal with disputes between states, to declare that the indictment of Taylor failed to respect the immunity from persecution that Taylor enjoys under international law as a head of state.