Liberia's Extradition Request: Opening a Potential Pandora's Box

Nigeria said March 17 that the Liberian government has requested that former Liberian President Charles Taylor be extradited back to his home country. Although Taylor has been in exile since 2003 and supposedly cut off from his former power base, he continues to pose a serious threat to West African security and stability. Although the United States likely is behind this move, Taylor's fate now lies in the hands of Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo and Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.