FACTBOX: African warlord Charles Taylor on trial
(Reuters) - Charles Taylor, 59, former president of Liberia and one of Africa's most feared warlords, boycotted the opening of his trial in The Hague for war crimes in Sierra Leone on Monday, saying he had lost faith in the U.N.-backed court.
Here are some facts about Taylor:
* Taylor was born in January 1948 to a family of Americo-Liberians -- a small but traditionally powerful group descended from the freed slaves who founded the West African country of Liberia in the 19th century.
* A Christian who studied in the United States and enjoys playing tennis, Taylor has a trademark outfit of a white suit and a cane.
* He worked for Liberian President Samuel Doe running the General Services Agency, a position that gave him control of much of Liberia's budget. Doe accused him in 1983 of embezzling almost $1 million and he fled to the United States.
* Jailed by the U.S. authorities for embezzlement, Taylor escaped from his Massachusetts cell in 1985 after a year. He resurfaced in Ivory Coast and launched a rebellion in 1989 to topple Doe.
* The Liberian war ended in 1996 with 200,000 dead. Taylor became president after a campaign memorable for the macabre unofficial anthem: "You killed my ma, you killed my pa. I'll vote for you."
* Special Court prosecutors say he sought to control neighboring Sierra Leone's diamond mines and destabilize its government to boost his regional influence. They argue he directed the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in a campaign of terror against civilians. He has pleaded not guilty.
* Taylor's foes rose again and he fled into exile in Nigeria in 2003 with rebels camped in Liberia's capital Monrovia and U.S. President George W. Bush demanding he leave.
* The court indicted Taylor in March 2003 on 17 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity over the war in Sierra Leone but condensed the charges to 11 counts in March 2006 to ensure a more focused trial.
* The charges at the U.N.-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone include acts of terrorism, murder, rape, enslavement, conscripting child soldiers, sexual slavery, pillage and outrages upon personal dignity. He has pleaded not guilty.
* Taylor is known simply as "Pappy" by a generation of child soldiers who went into battle on a cocktail of marijuana and amphetamines and were led by self-appointed generals with names such as "Peanut Butter", "Bad Boy" and "Butt Naked".
* Taylor was moved to The Hague in June 2006 due to fears a trial in Freetown could spur unrest in Sierra Leone or Liberia. He will serve his jail sentence in Britain if he is convicted in The Hague.
