Top Sierra Leone war crimes prosecutor to step down

FREETOWN, Apr 29 (Reuters) The chief prosecutor at a UN-backed tribunal in Sierra Leone where former Liberian President Charles Taylor has been charged with war crimes will step down at the end of June, the court said.

Taylor, long one of Africa's most feared warlords, was flown handcuffed and surrounded by UN peacekeepers to the Freetown tribunal last month after nearly three years in exile.

He has pleaded innocent to 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity for his role backing rebels who raped and mutilated civilians during Sierra Leone's 1991-2002 civil war. His trial is expected to begin later this year.

''I pledged to Sierra Leoneans that I would 'strain every nerve and every sinew to bring Charles Taylor to trial before the Special Court for Sierra Leone','' de Silva said in a statement issued by the court late last night.

''I leave the court with that pledge fulfilled,'' he said.

The tribunal has asked the Netherlands to hold Taylor's trial in The Hague, citing fears keeping him in Sierra Leone could provoke unrest, but the move will be delayed until a third country says it is willing to imprison him if found guilty.

Denmark became the third European nation on Tuesday to say it would reject a request to provide a cell for Taylor after Sweden and Austria turned down the proposal.

De Silva told UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan he would not seek to renew his contract when it expired on June 30 but would be willing to be considered for re-appointment when Taylor came to trial in Freetown or elsewhere, the statement said.

It said he wanted to spend time with his family in England and attend to business matters in London.

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