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ABUJA, Nigeria (AP) - Nigeria announced Saturday it is ready to hand over Liberian warlord Charles Taylor to be the first former African head of state tried for crimes against humanity, making a reluctant move that will be a strong warning for other warmongers on the continent.
A U.N. tribunal accuses Taylor of instigating horrific wars that destroyed two West African nations, killed 1.2 million people and left millions homeless and maimed. He also allegedly harbored al-Qaida suicide bombers who attacked U.S. embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
Taylor has been living in exile in the southern Nigerian city of Calabar since being forced from power under a 2003 accord that ended a rebel assault on Liberia's capital. But Nigeria had resisted extraditing him, arguing he was given refuge under the internationally brokered peace deal.
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