20100920
africanews

Former South Africa president Thabo Mbeki might be testifying in The Hague about the circumstances under which ex-president of Liberia Charles Taylor resigned.

According to defence lawyers, Taylor is being pictured to have stepped down under duress in 2003 from external forces including Mbeki.

"It is suggested by the prosecution that Mr. Taylor did not step down voluntarily as president of Liberia - he was forced out of office by among others, Thabo Mbeki... Mr. Taylor flatly denies that he was put under any pressure to step down," lead counsel Courtenay Griffiths told the AP.

Griffiths said he believes that Mbeki's evidence about the issue would support Taylor's account that he was not forced out of power by African leaders but that he voluntarily relinquished power in 2003.

Griffiths said he has asked to meet and speak with Mbeki in South Africa. The former South African President's spokesperson, however, said that no request has been received to speak with Mbeki on the matter, the AP reports.

Griffiths has also said that he does not intend to subject Mbeki to any subpoena by the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He says he wants Mbeki to voluntarily speak about the issue, and if the former South African president decides not to testify about the issue, then Taylor's defense team will not pursue it further.