Charles Taylor trial begins

AMSTERDAM - Prosecutors were to call their first witnesses to the stand overnight in the delayed trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, charged with orchestrating atrocities in Sierra Leone.

Taylor, once one of Africa's most feared warlords, faces charges of rape, murder, mutilation and recruitment of child soldiers at the United Nations-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, set up to try those most responsible for the 1991-2002 conflict.

The 59-year-old has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

- REUTERS