Bush Welcomes Nigeria's Capture of Charles Taylor
29 March 2006
Discusses Sudan, energy, economic development with President Obasanjo
President Bush welcomed the news of former Liberian President Charles Taylor’s capture in Nigeria. Taylor was subsequently transferred to Sierra Leone, where he will face a war crimes court for his activities in that country.
Speaking with Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo March 29 at the White House, Bush said he appreciated the Nigerian leader’s decision to turn Taylor over to face charges.
“The fact that Charles Taylor will be brought to justice in a court of law will help Liberia, and is a signal, Mr. President, of your deep desire for there to be peace in your neighborhood,” he told Obasanjo.
White House press secretary Scott McClellan congratulated Nigerian authorities for taking Taylor into custody “so quickly after his disappearance from his residence” on March 28.
McClellan said the United States is “committed to continuing to work with Nigeria and Liberia to make sure that Charles Taylor is brought to justice.”
President Bush said he and President Obasanjo also discussed the situation in Sudan.
“I made it very clear to him that we're deeply concerned about the humiliation, the rape, the murder that's taking place … against the citizens of Darfur,” Bush said, adding that the Nigerian leader shares his concern.
The two leaders discussed having a dual-track international effort towards peace in which the Sudanese rebels would “come together and negotiate with the government,” Bush said, while African Union peacekeeping troops would be bolstered by United Nations forces. (See Darfur Humanitarian Emergency.)
“I explained to him my desire to have a NATO overlay to make sure that force is robust,” Bush said.
President Obasanjo said that with the settling of Charles Taylor’s disposition, “the West African subregion is gradually becoming a haven of peace,” mentioning positive developments in Togo, Guinea-Bissau and Sierra Leone.
He said Nigeria is working to establish a Gulf of Guinea commission to oversee security, supply and price stability of hydrocarbons from that area, as well as to deal with misunderstandings between countries in the neighborhood.
For additional information on U.S. policy, see Africa.
Following is the transcript of President Bush and President Obasanjo’s remarks:
(begin transcript)
THE WHITE HOUSE
Office of the Press Secretary
March 29, 2006
REMARKS BY PRESIDENT BUSH
AND PRESIDENT OBASANJO OF NIGERIA
IN PHOTO OPPORTUNITY
The Oval Office
10:30 A.M. EST
PRESIDENT BUSH: Mr. President, welcome back to the Oval Office. We have just had a discussion that covered a lot of topics. Every time I meet with the President he brings a fresh perspective about the politics and the situation on the continent of Africa, and I want to thank you. I want to thank you for your leadership.
The President and I talked about Darfur and the Sudan, and I made it very clear to him that we're deeply concerned about the humiliation, the rape, the murder that is taking place among the -- against the citizens of Darfur. He agreed. And I want to thank you for your compassion.
We talked and strategized about how to move forward, how to make it clear to the Sudanese government that there will be an international response in working toward a peace. We talked about a dual track, that the rebels must come together and negotiate with the government, and at the same time, we talked about bolstering the AU peacekeeping force with a Blue Helmet force. And I explained my desire to have a NATO overlay, to make sure that force is robust.
We talked about economic development. Of course, I brought up energy to the President. He's -- and I talked about the situation in the Nigerian Delta. He talked to me about his strategy to deal with the energy issue.
And finally, I appreciate the decision he made regarding Charles Taylor. In my visit last week with the President of Liberia, we talked about Charles Taylor. The fact that Charles Taylor will be brought to justice in a court of law will help Liberia and is a signal, Mr. President, of your deep desire for there to be peace in your neighborhood.
So welcome to the Oval Office. It's good to have you here, sir.
PRESIDENT OBASANJO: Thank you very much. And as usual, I want to thank you for the warm and hearty reception that you have accorded us.
The areas that I would call the areas of concern, by the time I arrived here last night, seemed to have been definably dealt with by this morning, particularly the issue of Charles Taylor. And as I said to you about a minute -- a few minutes ago, Charles Taylor should be landing in Liberia by now, which should start putting the issue of Charles Taylor behind us.
I appreciate the understanding of everybody and the way that the issue has been handled. I met the press earlier today to actually give what was our own position and how we were hoping to deal with the issue of Charles Taylor's disappearance. And of course, I do not agree, must disagree that we have been negligent in the way we handled the Charles Taylor issue. If we had been negligent then Charles Taylor would have got away. He would not have been arrested if there was negligence or condonation on our part.
Having said that, we, of course, talked about the general situation of peace and security in the West Africa sub-region, and how West Africa sub-region, with Charles Taylor issue behind us, how West Africa sub-region is gradually becoming a haven of peace. We have dealt with Togo, we have dealt with Guinea-Bissau, we have dealt with Sierra Leone. Hopefully, we are now dealing with Liberia. And things seem to be going fairly well in Cote d'Ivoire. Well, of course, we are keenly watching the situation in Guinea-Conakry.
Then we looked at the rest of Africa, particularly Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia and Eritrea, and the Great Lakes, generally. Then we talked about the issue of development, particularly security -- supplies, security, stability, and also -- of hydrocarbons from the Gulf of Guinea area, and how we are working hard to establish a Gulf of Guinea commission that will also deal with the issue of reconciling and dealing with ending misunderstanding among those in that -- among countries that are in the Gulf of Guinea, how we can protect and how we can monitor what happens in that area, because the hydrocarbon we need for our own development and we need for the economic development and progress of the world. We are moving in this regard not only by ourselves, but also by our -- with our development partners.
Then, of course, we talked about NEPAD, which is where we work with the G8 and -- politically and individually.
And we -- I briefed the President on what we are doing with the Niger Delta, which is very important. And we are very grateful that the measures we are taking, which are essentially socioeconomic measures, to address some of the grievances, identified grievances, will resolve the issue of the Niger Delta.
I think these are some of the points. And I think -- I want to thank President for remaining his charming self. (Laughter.)
PRESIDENT BUSH: Thank you, sir.
END 10:38 A.M. EST
(end transcript)
(Distributed by the Bureau of International Information Programs, U.S. Department of State. Web site: http://usinfo.state.gov)
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