City honours UN hero soldier

The Irish soldier responsible for transferring African dictator Charles Taylor to the International Court in Hague to answer charges of war crimes was last night honoured with a civic reception to mark his retirement.

Brigadier-General Paul Pakenham was in charge of Operation Lansdowne, the security operation which resulted in the transfer of Taylor to his trial at the Hague, which is ongoing.

Brig Gen Pakenham was working in Liberia with the UN four years ago when he came face to face with Taylor, whom he described as “a man of stature, in size (that is)”.

“He was handed over to me by special court personnel in the Liberian capital Monrovia and taken by helicopter with another in close support to Lungi Airport, where he was put on a plane. The whole operation took less than 50 minutes. Nobody was aware of the transfer, including Mr Taylor until the final moment,” Brig Gen Pakenham said.

He revealed it was called Operation Lansdowne after the area in Dublin where he has lived for many years.

“[Taylor] knew I had a job to do and he respected me for it. It had colossal political implications, not only in Liberia but in Sierra Leone, where he is accused of committing the war crimes.”

As commander of 1st Southern Brigade, Brig Gen Pakenham was responsible for barracks in Cork, Limerick, Kilkenny and Clonmel.

Lord Mayor of Cork Cllr Terry Shannon, who hosted the reception, paid tribute to Brig Gen Pakenham and to the support he had given to Cork City.