Drop the dead donkey  Gadaffi has apparently dropped troublesome allies such as Liberian President Charles Taylor and Western observers say he has been helpful in the Rwanda/Congo-Kinshasa peace deal...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Dropping   Liberia's Charles Taylor and the planned troop   withdrawal from Central African Republic will ease concern   in the West's Africa departments but some of Gadaffi's other   friendships are problematic  notably with Zimbabwe's Robert   Mugabe...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 43 No 21 | 
            - CONGO-KINSHASA
	     Italian police investigating Leonid Minin  who was a business ally of Liberian President Charles Taylor and now faces charges of arms and diamond smuggling  have identified payments between Minin and Avient Ltd's British bank account...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 43 No 20 | 
            - CÔTE D'IVOIRE
	      Welcoming the new United States Ambassador to Monrovia  John Blaney on 3 October  Liberian President Charles Taylor  never one to miss an opportunity for some good publicity  called for curbs on West African mercenaries...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 43 No 19 | 
            - CÔTE D'IVOIRE
	     Liberian leader Charles Taylor  highly skilled at profiting from instability  can hope to see some pressure on his regime lifted as international attention focuses on Iraq and the regional focus moves next door...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	    With so many peace initiatives competing for the international community's scarce resources  Liberia's peace process needs to keep up its momentum  and President Charles Taylor's critics need to speed things up  before Nigeria gets embroiled in elections and the United States and Britain get stuck into Iraq...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 43 No 16 | 
            - BURKINA FASO
	     Despite all his years of support for Liberian President Charles Taylor  the Liberian opposition turned out in force for talks in Ouagadougou last month...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     Compaoré is still recovering from the exposure of official efforts to cover up the December 1998 killing of journalist Norbert Zongo and is vulnerable to criticism for his support for Liberian hard man Charles Taylor...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
            Vol 43 No 11 | 
            - SIERRA LEONE
	     The British-based Mano River Resources (close to Liberian President Charles Taylor's political circle in Monrovia) has resumed exploration in Kono District and talks of turning a new kimberlite discovery into the country's first modern hard-rock diamond mine...
	 
    
    
    
    
        
	
	     But relations between Conté and Liberian President Charles Taylor are almost on a war footing...