By Wires News Report

Posted to the web 15 May 2008

FLASHBACK: Moses Blah (r) and Taylor

Former Liberian President Moses Z. Blah has taken the witness stand at the on going trial against the former Liberian President Charles Taylor currently going on in The Hague, Netherlands providing a detailed account of Mr. Taylor’s bloody rise to power and acknowledged the use of child soldiers during his pursuit.
 
As Mr. Blah walked in the courtroom to the witness stand this morning, though Mr. Taylor looked straight in his direction, Blah was careful not to look directly at Mr. Taylor as he took his seat.
 
The most senior figure to give evidence at the trial since it began in January; Mr. Blah provided a detailed insider’s account of the early days of the civil war.
 
After officially introducing himself, Blah went straight into the why he fled Liberia and ended up in a guerilla training camp in Libya. He noted that a man called Alfred Mehn, popularly known as “Godfather” came to him with a word from Mr. Taylor, though by then he (Taylor) was detained in Ghana after being arrested for wanting to overthrow the Liberian Government. At the time, Taylor’s fiancée, Agnes was in Burkina Faso and wanted to meet with them. She provided transportation.

Initially about 22 of them went to Burkina Faso, first by a transport bus from Danane to Abidjan and later by train to Ougadougou. They resided at a military camp for six months after which they moved on to Tripoli, Libya and taken directly to Tuajura camp, a military base. After residing at the camp for about one or two months, another 47 men joined them.
 
Blah recounted that it was not until the 47 men joined them at the camp in Libya that he first met Mr. Taylor. The group eventually swelled to 180 men which was the core of his National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) with Cooper Miller and Augustine Wright as his deputies.
 
Miller and Wright were later implicated in a coup to oust Mr. Taylor. “They got implicated in a coup to take over from Mr. Taylor. Once he didn’t return on time and these men decided to take over the organization. Cooper declared himself president and Wright his vice president. When Taylor returned, he decided to take these two men away. He said he was taking them to Burkina Faso until after the revolution,” Blah told the court.
 
Isaac Musa was named commander replacing Miller, while he (Blah) was appointed as Adjutant-General in charge of training.
 
Blah noted that during the one and half year stay at the training camp in Libya, they trained alongside Gambians, Sierra Leoneans and Filipinos, all supported by the Libyan authorities.
 
He confirmed that the late Foday Sankoh was one of the 15 Sierra Leoneans that trained with them in Libya with the intent to overthrow the Sierra Leonean Government. “I didn’t take him seriously because he made tea for me,” Blah told the court.
 
Blah confirmed that he didn’t complete the training in Libya because of the heart problem he had developed. As such he was advised to only do light work, not physical training.
 
The former Liberian president disclosed that following their training, the all transported back to Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso in groups of 20 to 50 men. He noted that after residing in a military camp in Burkina Faso for close to a year, they later had to relocate to Cote d’Ivoire, as the delay to invade Liberia was becoming unbearable.
 
Blah said due to the delay to have gotten weapons from Libya, though he was unaware, Taylor went ahead and invaded Liberia on Christmas Eve in 1989 using shotguns and cutlasses. “The Libyans were unhappy because they were not informed of the invasion. They had not given Taylor the arms initially because the US had sanctions on them,” he said.
 
Blah told the court that when the time came to invade Liberia, three truck loads of weapons were provided by the defense minister of Cote d’Ivoire.
 
Blah said within days of crossing into Liberia in 1990, he was briefly detained by child rebel fighters by his own side. He noted that it was Benjamin Yeaten that arrested him at the time on the orders of Taylor, though the youngest that was trained in Libya. He was later released after spending nearly a week in detention.
 
 He was accused of transferring the weapons to Prince Johnson, who had broken away. “Yes, I was called by him on one occasion. Prince Barclay was sent to find out what the delay was in bringing in the weapons and I explained that we needed money for the trucks. He went back to the border, and reported that we were trying to transfer the weapons to Prince Johnson who had broken away. When I got back to Gborpleh, I was arrested,” Blah said.

He said the Small Boys Unit were used because they took orders and were unreasonable and aggressive. “They arrested people and wanted to kill me. I regretted for being a member of the NPFL at that moment,” Blah said.

Blah disclosed that when the NPFL first crossed into Liberia, Isaac Musa was the field commander. However, being scared of the exchange of fire, he retreated back to Cote d’Ivoire and Prince Johnson replaced him. He admitted that Mr. Taylor remained in Liberia during the early exchanges.
 
On Mr. Taylor’s relationship with Libya’s leader, Colonel Moammar al-Khadafy, Mr. Blah said, “I knew we were going to Libya to train, and that Gaddafi was providing the training. As for the Burkinabe President Blasé Compoare, Mr. Blah said they (Taylor and Compore) were friends that why they were able to stay in Burkina Faso.
 
On his duties as Inspector-General of the NPFL, Blah said at no time did he order anybody killed, though there were complaints of the soldiers’ unruly and undisciplined actions. He said had limited authority.
 
He named Cassius Jacob and Nelson Gaye as two untouchable generals. They took instructions only from Mr. Taylor. “Cassius Jacob was the commander of the Executive Mansion Guard Unit and Nelson Gaye was attached to the unit. I did not have the authority to arrest or question them,” he said.
 
He narrated that Nelson Gaye had the habit of eating fellow human beings. “I saw one of the incidents with my own eyes. I visited a camp at rubber plantation. He had roasted the hands of a human being and ate it with boiled cassava,” Blah told the stunned court.
 
“Another time, I heard it, but did not see it. He arrested a man on his cassava farm. He asked the man to dig up cassava and cook it for him. The man himself pounded cassava in the mortar. He ordered the man killed and the man’s intestine was cooked and part of his body was cooked, and he and his men ate the cassava with that. At the time he had not joined this unit. At that time you would not join the unit if you did not eat human beings,” Blah continued; adding, “I was reluctant to complain because I would be attacking the Executive Mansion Guard Unit. They had their own…” he said.
 
On the death of Samuel Dokie, his wife, sister, driver and another person, Mr. Blah said that he was killed by Benjamin Yeaten. “They were taken to a place called Cocoa Yard Road. Their bodies were discovered, but they were burned bodies,” Blah said.
 
He noted that Yeaten was very aggressive while in training in Libya which won him a lot of prizes. “That was when our leader recognized his efforts and drew him nearer,” Blah said. Blah admitted that though Yeaten was his kinsman, when he was appointed Director of the Special Security Services (SSS)he lost respect for him and kept a distance from him.

The trial continues Thursday with Blah expected to give evidence about the war in Sierra Leone.