Netherlands asked to host Taylor war crimes trial

The special tribunal for Sierra Leone has asked the Netherlands to host Charles Taylor’s war crimes trial, the Foreign Ministry said Thursday, a day after the former Liberian president was arrested.

Dutch Foreign Ministry spokesman Dirk-Jan Vermeij said the Sierra Leone court had contacted the International Criminal Court to make its facilities available to stage the trial.

ICC officials were not immediately available for comment.

The Netherlands said it was willing to work with the court, but that among its conditions it wanted the sanction of a UN Security Council resolution.