Taylor flown from S.Leone for war crimes trial

FREETOWN, June 20 (Reuters) Former Liberian President Charles Taylor was flown out of Sierra Leone today for trial on war crimes charges in the Netherlands, Sierra Leone's Vice-President Solomon Berewa told Reuters.

''We are now satisfied that he is going to be tried in a well secured area by the Netherlands while we in Sierra Leone and the Mano River Union states will continue to consolidate our peace,'' Berewa said.

The Mano River Union groups Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea, which were all dragged into a spiral of violence in the 14 years after Taylor began Liberia's civil war in 1989.

Years of civil war in Liberia finally came to an end after Taylor agreed to go into exile in Nigeria in 2003.

Taylor was flown early today in a helicopter from the compound of the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone, which has charged him with war crimes but is due to hold his trial in The Hague.

Berewa did not say where Taylor would be transferred to a long-haul aircraft for the trip to Europe.

REUTERS KD RN1601