Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
04ABUJA101
2004-01-21 07:07:00
SECRET//NOFORN
Embassy Abuja
Cable title:  

OFFER TO KIDNAP CHARLES TAYLOR

Tags:  PGOV PHUM PREL PTER 
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This record is a partial extract of the original cable. The full text of the original cable is not available.
S E C R E T ABUJA 000101 

SIPDIS

NOFORN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2014
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PTER
SUBJECT: OFFER TO KIDNAP CHARLES TAYLOR


Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY CHARGE R. ROBERTS FOR REASONS 1.5 (B & D).

S E C R E T ABUJA 000101

SIPDIS

NOFORN

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/20/2014
TAGS: PGOV PHUM PREL PTER
SUBJECT: OFFER TO KIDNAP CHARLES TAYLOR


Classified By: CLASSIFIED BY CHARGE R. ROBERTS FOR REASONS 1.5 (B & D).


1. (S/NF) A recently retired Nigerian special forces Colonel
asked poloff January 16 about exiled Liberian warlord Charles
Taylor, his whereabouts and the purported reward for his
delivery to the Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal.


2. (S/NF) Poloff explained that there is no such reward,
that a general fund had been mentioned in U.S. legislation,
but that the USG was not offering it. The Colonel made his
disappointment clear, commenting that he had already placed
about 35 of his own "boys" among the Nigerian military
security forces the GON has provided for Taylor. "I could
deliver him to a place of your choosing at any time," the
Colonel claimed. Whether Taylor is in Obudu or Calabar, he
continued, "my boys can grab him."


3. (C) COMMENT: Talk of the "reward" for Taylor continues in
Nigeria. The prospect of a payoff for grabbing someone whose
movements are known is very enticing. Most, however, could
not implement the level of planning which this man claims to
have achieved.
Roberts