Liberia’s Taylor may be jailed in Denmark

? Denmark confirmed Thursday that it has been asked to imprison former Liberian President Charles Taylor if he is convicted of war crimes by a U.N.-backed court.

Foreign Minister Per Stig Moeller said Denmark was one of the countries that had been contacted about Taylor but no decision could be made until a formal request was received from the United Nations.

Efforts to begin Taylor’s trial on 11 counts for his role in Sierra Leone’s vicious civil war have stalled because no country has agreed to hold him.

The Special Court in Sierra Leone has requested that the trial be moved to The Hague, Netherlands, for fear a man who once was among the region’s most feared warlords could still spark unrest in West Africa. The Special Court would conduct the trial, with the Netherlands supplying only the courtroom and jailing Taylor during the proceedings.

The Netherlands has agreed – but only if the arrangement is endorsed by a U.N. Security Council resolution, the Hague-based International Criminal Court agrees to provide the venue and Taylor leaves immediately after the trial, regardless of the outcome.