WikiLeaks: Charles Taylor may have $400m

By Christopher Hope, Whitehall Editor

US officials were told that if Mr Taylor is found guilty of war crimes, the international court in The Hague might only be able to recover a fraction of his wealth.

On Friday judges in The Hague adjourned indefinitely the three-year-old trial of Mr Taylor on charges of arming rebels who killed and maimed Sierra Leone citizens.

Instead of closing it, as scheduled, Mr Taylor's lawyers were granted leave to appeal an earlier decision refusing the late filing of a defence document.

A leaked cable sent from US officials in the United Nations in October 2007 reported the concerns of Stephen Rapp, who was the Special Court for Sierra Leone prosecutor at time, about Mr Taylor's alleged missing millions Mr Rapp is now President Barack Obama's Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues.

The cable, leaked by the WikiLeaks website and handed to The Daily Telegraph, said: "On the issue of Taylor's hidden funds, Rapp reported that victims often raise the subject of reparations from Taylor's sizeable resources.

"He noted that the Court could recover about $3 million, if Taylor's funds could be located. Some reports place his hidden funds at $400 million.

"The UN Office of Crime and Drugs as well as the World Bank are exploring ways to track the funds and both President Sirleaf of Liberia and Sierra Leone President Koroma are watching with interest." Nigeria was trying to help to find some of the assets, the US officials added.

The cable said: "The Nigerian representative present said that her government is making efforts to penetrate the web that Taylor wove to hide his assets but that it has proven difficult to trace his accounts."

In a later cable sent in 2009, US diplomats in Liberia's capital Monrovia suggested Mr Taylor should be tried in the US if he was "acquitted in The Hague or given a light sentence".

The cable said: "The international community must consider steps should Taylor not be sent to prison for a long time.

"We should look at the possibility of trying Taylor in the United States All legal options should be studied to ensure that Taylor cannot return to destabilise Liberia.

"Building a case in the United States against Taylor for financial crimes such as wire fraud would probably be the best route.

"There may be other options, such as applying the new law criminalising the use of child soldiers or terrorism statutes."

Mr Taylor, 62, has pleaded not guilty to 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity.

The Sierra Leone civil war claimed some 120,000 lives in the 10 years to 2001, with Revolutionary United Front rebels, dubbed Mr Taylor's "surrogate army", mutilating thousands of civilians. Telegraph