THE HAGUE, 31/03/06 - The Netherlands is prepared to host a temporary Sierra Leone Tribunal to try the former president of Liberia, Charles Taylor, for war crimes, a Foreign Ministry spokesman said yesterday.

A special court has been set up in Sierra Leone to try Taylor and others involved in the civil war in the West African neighbouring country to Liberia. The Netherlands is among the tribunal's top donors. The Netherlands has received an official request from the Sierra Leone Tribunal for Taylor to be tried in The Hague.

The Foreign Ministry does specify three conditions. There must be a UN Security Council resolution for trying Taylor in The Hague. As well, he cannot stay in the Netherlands after the verdict and finally, the tribunal must make agreements with the International Criminal Court (ICC) based in The Hague on the use of a courtroom and a prison cell for Taylor during the trial.

US President George W. Bush on Wednesday stepped up pressure to move the case from Sierra Leone to The Hague. Taylor himself would also prefer to be tried in The Hague. MEP Max van den Berg, involved in the elections in Liberia on behalf of the EU, also sees a trial in The Hague as a realistic possibility. "Sierra Leone is likely too dangerous for Taylor; he has made many enemies there," said the Labour (PvdA) party leader in the European Parliament.