Charles Taylor's arrest in Nigeria and extradition to Sierra Leone on war crimes charges is a welcome development in one of the world's poorest regions. He is charged with backing the rebel forces in Sierra Leone when he was president of neighbouring Liberia from 1997 to 2003.
During that time the whole West African region was plunged into the most horrendous war in which an estimated 300,000 people died, bound up with the international trade in diamonds. Taylor helped rebels in Sierra Leone get access to mines in the country's interior. The conflict became notorious for the use of child soldiers and has left a dreadful legacy of human destruction.
Pressure from the United States on Nigerian president Olusegun Obasanjo, who met President Bush in Washington yesterday, played a crucial role in these developments. Taylor was reported to have escaped Nigerian custody overnight, but was then seized on his way to Cameroon. Similar pressure was put on the new Liberian president Mrs Ellen Johnson Sirleaf when she visited the US last month. She has not shown a desire to seek Taylor's extradition, believing it would divert attention from the urgent task of redevelopment by dividing Liberians again over his legacy. This is a more understandable attitude than that of other African leaders who fear his arrest and trial would set a precedent for prosecuting other retired presidents accused of crimes while in office.
Taylor faces 17 charges of war crimes at the court in Freetown, which was set up by the United Nations and the Sierra Leone government in 2002. It remains to be seen whether the trial will restoke the political conflict there and in Liberia. Fears that it could do so should be taken seriously, since he still has quite widespread support. Sierra Leone remains a highly precarious society, in many ways less hopeful than Liberia, where Mrs Sirleaf has made a strong start in providing leadership. These societies deserve international solidarity and aid, all the more so as they demonstrate a readiness to tackle post-conflict divisions and problems.
These are symbolised in part by an Irish role in Taylor's arrest and trial. He was received in Monrovia by a detachment of Irish troops serving with the UN force there. They will pass him on to custody in Sierra Leone, where among the judges in the UN court is Irishwoman Teresa Doherty, who was nominated to it by the UN secretary general Kofi Annan. Human rights groups rightly point out how important the trial can be in setting legal precedents against immunity for former heads of government in Africa. Taylor's arrest should be linked to continuing help for these societies to recover.