{"id":5147,"date":"2009-07-13T13:07:33","date_gmt":"2009-07-13T17:07:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/?p=5147"},"modified":"2009-07-15T11:03:43","modified_gmt":"2009-07-15T15:03:43","slug":"world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wa-blog\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\/5147\/","title":{"rendered":"World Links: Liberia&#8217;s Charles Taylor Testifies, Somali Insurgents Kidnap Foreigners From Hotel"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>Former Liberian president Charles Taylor, accused of aiding and commanding rebels in a civil war in neighboring, diamond-rich Sierra Leone, testifies at his <a href=\"http:\/\/allafrica.com\/stories\/200907140032.html\">war crimes trial in the Hague<\/a>. Taylor does not deny the range of atrocities committed during the bloody conflict, which have been <a href=\"http:\/\/www.mg.co.za\/article\/2008-01-15-charles-taylor-trial-hears-of-rebel-atrocities\">recounted by a series of prosecution witnesses<\/a>, but pleads not guilty to 11 counts including murder, torture, and sexual slavery. Taylor&#8217;s defense lawyer states, \u201cThe case is all about linking the crimes to Mr. Taylor, but the <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/07\/15\/world\/africa\/15hague.html?ref=world\">evidence has been riddled with inconsistencies<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ten Somali gunmen <a href=\"http:\/\/www.france24.com\/en\/20090714-two-foreign-journalists-kidnapped-somalia-mogadishu-hotel\">kidnap a group of foreigners at the Sahafi hotel<\/a> in the capital, Mogadishu. The hostages, <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/africa\/8149130.stm\">French security advisers<\/a> aiding the U.N.-backed interim government, are blindfolded, bound and taken to an Islamic-insurgent area in Mogadishu. Insurgents led by Al-Shabab are trying to overthrow the weak interim-government in Somalia. Two Somali-Americans, believed to have joined al Qaeda-linked Al-Shabab, are <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/07\/14\/us\/14somalis.html?scp=1&amp;sq=somali-Americans&amp;st=cse\">charged in Minneapolis with aiding terrorism<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>Iran <a href=\"http:\/\/english.aljazeera.net\/news\/middleeast\/2009\/07\/2009714132021426228.html\">hangs 13 Sunni rebels and members of Jundallah<\/a> for their role in attacks in southern Iran. Iran considers Jundallah a terrorist group and accuses Jundallah members of <a href=\"http:\/\/www.nytimes.com\/2009\/07\/15\/world\/middleeast\/15iran.html\">killing hundreds of Iranian civilians and military<\/a> personnel and inciting sectarian tensions in Iran.<\/p>\n<p>A helicopter providing food and supplies to NATO forces in Helmand Province, Afghanistan, crashes, killing at least six people. Though unconfirmed, the <a href=\"http:\/\/english.aljazeera.net\/news\/asia\/2009\/07\/20097146640816904.html\">Taliban claims responsibility<\/a> for shooting down the Chinook aircraft in the Sangin district. District police chief Fazlul Haq states, &#8220;<a href=\"http:\/\/www.reuters.com\/article\/gc05\/idUSTRE56D0S020090714\">It was in the sky on fire<\/a> and then went down.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Ousted Honduran president Manuel Zelaya <a href=\"http:\/\/www.google.com\/hostednews\/afp\/article\/ALeqM5gGbhb2C8YaWNwz-K0sg-rI9kxmiQ\">calls for the interim government to step down<\/a>, after mediated talks later this week, and for his reinstatement as president. Speaking from Nicaragua, Zelaya states, &#8220;I will go escorted by the people; you can go with your guns, and instead of shooting innocent children like the one you murdered at the Toncontin airport, <a href=\"http:\/\/news.bbc.co.uk\/2\/hi\/americas\/8149037.stm\">shoot me. I have enough moral reliability to take your blows<\/a> and bullets.&#8221;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Former Liberian president Charles Taylor, accused of aiding and commanding rebels in a civil war in neighboring, diamond-rich Sierra Leone, testifies at his war crimes trial in the Hague. Taylor does not deny the range of atrocities committed during the bloody conflict, which have been recounted by a series of prosecution witnesses, but pleads not [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":66,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[9892],"tags":[2520,4284,2545,2337,4056,5490,4350,5630,5612,4278,5403,2686,1863],"class_list":["post-5147","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-wa-blog","tag-al-qaeda","tag-hague","tag-honduras","tag-iran","tag-liberia","tag-manuel-zelaya","tag-nato","tag-nicaragua","tag-sierra-leone","tag-somalia","tag-somalia-al-shabab","tag-sunni","tag-taliban"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v27.4 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/product\/yoast-seo-wordpress\/ -->\n<title>World Links: Liberia&#039;s Charles Taylor Testifies, Somali Insurgents Kidnap Foreigners From Hotel | Wide Angle | PBS<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"noindex, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"World Links: Liberia&#039;s Charles Taylor Testifies, Somali Insurgents Kidnap Foreigners From Hotel | Wide Angle | PBS\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Former Liberian president Charles Taylor, accused of aiding and commanding rebels in a civil war in neighboring, diamond-rich Sierra Leone, testifies at his war crimes trial in the Hague. Taylor does not deny the range of atrocities committed during the bloody conflict, which have been recounted by a series of prosecution witnesses, but pleads not [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wa-blog\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\/5147\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Wide Angle\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2009-07-13T17:07:33+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2009-07-15T15:03:43+00:00\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"milsteinm\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"milsteinm\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/wa-blog\\\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\\\/5147\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/wa-blog\\\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\\\/5147\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"milsteinm\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/90d0e4efc8c2a7694d9878146a70ce93\"},\"headline\":\"World Links: Liberia&#8217;s Charles Taylor Testifies, Somali Insurgents Kidnap Foreigners From Hotel\",\"datePublished\":\"2009-07-13T17:07:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-07-15T15:03:43+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/wa-blog\\\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\\\/5147\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":333,\"commentCount\":0,\"keywords\":[\"al Qaeda\",\"Hague\",\"Honduras\",\"Iran\",\"Liberia\",\"Manuel Zelaya\",\"NATO\",\"Nicaragua\",\"Sierra Leone\",\"Somalia\",\"Somalia Al-Shabab\",\"Sunni\",\"Taliban\"],\"articleSection\":[\"blog\"],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"CommentAction\",\"name\":\"Comment\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/wa-blog\\\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\\\/5147\\\/#respond\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/wa-blog\\\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\\\/5147\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/wa-blog\\\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\\\/5147\\\/\",\"name\":\"World Links: Liberia's Charles Taylor Testifies, Somali Insurgents Kidnap Foreigners From Hotel | Wide Angle | PBS\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/#website\"},\"datePublished\":\"2009-07-13T17:07:33+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2009-07-15T15:03:43+00:00\",\"author\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/90d0e4efc8c2a7694d9878146a70ce93\"},\"breadcrumb\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/wa-blog\\\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\\\/5147\\\/#breadcrumb\"},\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"ReadAction\",\"target\":[\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/wa-blog\\\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\\\/5147\\\/\"]}]},{\"@type\":\"BreadcrumbList\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/wa-blog\\\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\\\/5147\\\/#breadcrumb\",\"itemListElement\":[{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":1,\"name\":\"Home\",\"item\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/\"},{\"@type\":\"ListItem\",\"position\":2,\"name\":\"World Links: Liberia&#8217;s Charles Taylor Testifies, Somali Insurgents Kidnap Foreigners From Hotel\"}]},{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/\",\"name\":\"Wide Angle\",\"description\":\"America&#039;s only program exclusively devoted to international current affairs documentaries.\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/search-results\\\/?q={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":{\"@type\":\"PropertyValueSpecification\",\"valueRequired\":true,\"valueName\":\"search_term_string\"}}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"Person\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\\\/wnet\\\/wideangle\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/90d0e4efc8c2a7694d9878146a70ce93\",\"name\":\"milsteinm\",\"sameAs\":[\"http:\\\/\\\/\"]}]}<\/script>\n<!-- \/ Yoast SEO plugin. -->","yoast_head_json":{"title":"World Links: Liberia's Charles Taylor Testifies, Somali Insurgents Kidnap Foreigners From Hotel | Wide Angle | PBS","robots":{"index":"noindex","follow":"follow","max-snippet":"max-snippet:-1","max-image-preview":"max-image-preview:large","max-video-preview":"max-video-preview:-1"},"og_locale":"en_US","og_type":"article","og_title":"World Links: Liberia's Charles Taylor Testifies, Somali Insurgents Kidnap Foreigners From Hotel | Wide Angle | PBS","og_description":"Former Liberian president Charles Taylor, accused of aiding and commanding rebels in a civil war in neighboring, diamond-rich Sierra Leone, testifies at his war crimes trial in the Hague. Taylor does not deny the range of atrocities committed during the bloody conflict, which have been recounted by a series of prosecution witnesses, but pleads not [&hellip;]","og_url":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wa-blog\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\/5147\/","og_site_name":"Wide Angle","article_published_time":"2009-07-13T17:07:33+00:00","article_modified_time":"2009-07-15T15:03:43+00:00","author":"milsteinm","twitter_card":"summary_large_image","twitter_misc":{"Written by":"milsteinm","Est. reading time":"2 minutes"},"schema":{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org","@graph":[{"@type":"Article","@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wa-blog\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\/5147\/#article","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wa-blog\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\/5147\/"},"author":{"name":"milsteinm","@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/#\/schema\/person\/90d0e4efc8c2a7694d9878146a70ce93"},"headline":"World Links: Liberia&#8217;s Charles Taylor Testifies, Somali Insurgents Kidnap Foreigners From Hotel","datePublished":"2009-07-13T17:07:33+00:00","dateModified":"2009-07-15T15:03:43+00:00","mainEntityOfPage":{"@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wa-blog\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\/5147\/"},"wordCount":333,"commentCount":0,"keywords":["al Qaeda","Hague","Honduras","Iran","Liberia","Manuel Zelaya","NATO","Nicaragua","Sierra Leone","Somalia","Somalia Al-Shabab","Sunni","Taliban"],"articleSection":["blog"],"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"CommentAction","name":"Comment","target":["https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wa-blog\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\/5147\/#respond"]}]},{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wa-blog\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\/5147\/","url":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wa-blog\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\/5147\/","name":"World Links: Liberia's Charles Taylor Testifies, Somali Insurgents Kidnap Foreigners From Hotel | Wide Angle | PBS","isPartOf":{"@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/#website"},"datePublished":"2009-07-13T17:07:33+00:00","dateModified":"2009-07-15T15:03:43+00:00","author":{"@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/#\/schema\/person\/90d0e4efc8c2a7694d9878146a70ce93"},"breadcrumb":{"@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wa-blog\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\/5147\/#breadcrumb"},"inLanguage":"en-US","potentialAction":[{"@type":"ReadAction","target":["https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wa-blog\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\/5147\/"]}]},{"@type":"BreadcrumbList","@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wa-blog\/world-links-liberias-charles-taylor-testifies-somali-insurgents-kidnap-foreigners-from-hotel\/5147\/#breadcrumb","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Home","item":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/"},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"name":"World Links: Liberia&#8217;s Charles Taylor Testifies, Somali Insurgents Kidnap Foreigners From Hotel"}]},{"@type":"WebSite","@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/#website","url":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/","name":"Wide Angle","description":"America&#039;s only program exclusively devoted to international current affairs documentaries.","potentialAction":[{"@type":"SearchAction","target":{"@type":"EntryPoint","urlTemplate":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/search-results\/?q={search_term_string}"},"query-input":{"@type":"PropertyValueSpecification","valueRequired":true,"valueName":"search_term_string"}}],"inLanguage":"en-US"},{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/#\/schema\/person\/90d0e4efc8c2a7694d9878146a70ce93","name":"milsteinm","sameAs":["http:\/\/"]}]}},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5147","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/66"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=5147"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/5147\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=5147"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=5147"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pbs-wnet-preprod.digi-producers.pbs.org\/wnet\/wideangle\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=5147"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}