Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06LONDON4221
2006-06-13 15:39:00
CONFIDENTIAL//NOFORN
Embassy London
Cable title:
(C/NF) LIBERIA/SIERRA LEONE: UK CONSIDERING
how-toVZCZCXYZ0000 OO RUEHWEB DE RUEHLO #4221 1641539 ZNY CCCCC ZZH O 131539Z JUN 06 FM AMEMBASSY LONDON TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 6261 INFO RUEHTC/AMEMBASSY THE HAGUE IMMEDIATE 1096 RUEHSM/AMEMBASSY STOCKHOLM IMMEDIATE 0499 RUEHMV/AMEMBASSY MONROVIA IMMEDIATE 0085 RUEHFN/AMEMBASSY FREETOWN IMMEDIATE 0142 RUCNDT/USMISSION USUN NEW YORK IMMEDIATE 0728
C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 004221
SIPDIS
NOFORN
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/W, S/WCI, L
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM KAWC LI SL UK
SUBJECT: (C/NF) LIBERIA/SIERRA LEONE: UK CONSIDERING
TAKING CHARLES TAYLOR
Classified By: PolMinCouns Maura Connelly; reason 1.4 (b, d)
C O N F I D E N T I A L LONDON 004221
SIPDIS
NOFORN
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/W, S/WCI, L
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM KAWC LI SL UK
SUBJECT: (C/NF) LIBERIA/SIERRA LEONE: UK CONSIDERING
TAKING CHARLES TAYLOR
Classified By: PolMinCouns Maura Connelly; reason 1.4 (b, d)
1. (C/NF) FCO West Africa Section Head Jason Moore told
Poloff under questioning June 12 that HMG is considering UN
Secretary General Annan's request that it agree to
SIPDIS
incarcerate former Liberian president Charles Taylor if he is
convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).
Moore said HMG has concluded that Sweden and Denmark will
definitely not take Taylor, and that FCO is willing but the
Home Office is more cautious. Primary legislation would have
to be enacted in order to permit the UK to incarcerate
Taylor; existing legislation authorizes the incarceration of
persons convicted by courts set up by the United Nations
(e.g., the International Criminal Court, the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda),but the SCSL is
a "hybrid" court.
2. (C/NF) Moore cited questions that need to be addressed if
the UK is to agree to take Taylor, such as whether Taylor's
family would have visitation rights and whether Taylor
himself would have right of abode upon completion of his
sentence. He explicitly dismissed Britain's colonial past in
Sierra Leone as a factor in HMG's deliberations.
3. (C/NF) Moore was not sure how long it might take for HMG
to reach a decision, particularly given that Home Secretary
John Reid is swamped with embarrassing revelations about the
functioning of the Home Office. (NOTE: Reid himself has
said his vast, multi-faceted department is "not fit for
purpose" at present. END NOTE.)
4. (C/NF) Aware that Annan had also approached the USG,
Moore asked how the USG intended to respond. Poloff said he
had no guidance on this, and offered no encouragement.
Visit London's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm
Tuttle
SIPDIS
NOFORN
SIPDIS
STATE FOR AF/W, S/WCI, L
E.O. 12958: DECL: 06/13/2016
TAGS: PREL PHUM KAWC LI SL UK
SUBJECT: (C/NF) LIBERIA/SIERRA LEONE: UK CONSIDERING
TAKING CHARLES TAYLOR
Classified By: PolMinCouns Maura Connelly; reason 1.4 (b, d)
1. (C/NF) FCO West Africa Section Head Jason Moore told
Poloff under questioning June 12 that HMG is considering UN
Secretary General Annan's request that it agree to
SIPDIS
incarcerate former Liberian president Charles Taylor if he is
convicted by the Special Court for Sierra Leone (SCSL).
Moore said HMG has concluded that Sweden and Denmark will
definitely not take Taylor, and that FCO is willing but the
Home Office is more cautious. Primary legislation would have
to be enacted in order to permit the UK to incarcerate
Taylor; existing legislation authorizes the incarceration of
persons convicted by courts set up by the United Nations
(e.g., the International Criminal Court, the International
Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, and the
International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda),but the SCSL is
a "hybrid" court.
2. (C/NF) Moore cited questions that need to be addressed if
the UK is to agree to take Taylor, such as whether Taylor's
family would have visitation rights and whether Taylor
himself would have right of abode upon completion of his
sentence. He explicitly dismissed Britain's colonial past in
Sierra Leone as a factor in HMG's deliberations.
3. (C/NF) Moore was not sure how long it might take for HMG
to reach a decision, particularly given that Home Secretary
John Reid is swamped with embarrassing revelations about the
functioning of the Home Office. (NOTE: Reid himself has
said his vast, multi-faceted department is "not fit for
purpose" at present. END NOTE.)
4. (C/NF) Aware that Annan had also approached the USG,
Moore asked how the USG intended to respond. Poloff said he
had no guidance on this, and offered no encouragement.
Visit London's Classified Website:
http://www.state.sgov.gov/p/eur/london/index. cfm
Tuttle