MONROVIA, March 30 (Xinhua) -- Liberian government has called for a change of venue for former Liberian president Charles Taylor's trial, barely 24 hours following the transfer of him to the UN-backed special court for Sierra Leone, where he is expected to face charges of war crimes.

    In her address to the nation Thursday, Liberian President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf said "we expect a resolution from the Security Council that will allow for a change of venue to a more conducive environment such as the International Court at the Hague."

    "We have said and will continue to stress that in any proceedings, the United Nations must ensure that Mr. Taylor is allowed to maintain his dignity and the right to a vigorous self defense consistent with principle that a person is deemed innocent until proven guilty, " she said.

    A staffer in the president's office told Xinhua that "the president is actually very sad over the Taylor's transfer issue."

    This was reflected in her address when the president said "fellow citizens, as you know this government inherited the matter relating to Mr. Taylor and try as we did to avoid it, in the end I had no option but to accept the responsibility of leadership, by taking the hard decision which ensures the long term safety of the Liberian people and the security of the state."

    Assuring the nation, Johnson-Sirleaf, who took office in January, said: "today, we can just thank God that with his blessings, this saga for Liberia has come to an end and the government can now pursue what it was elected to do: bring development and prosperity to the Liberian people."

    Regarding the ex-president's dependents who had lived with him in exile in Nigeria, she said "as citizens of Liberia they are free to return home and would be given protection and opportunities as any other citizen so long they remain law abiding."

    But she warned that "those who try to use these circumstances as an excuse for insurrection to undermine the stability of the nation will be dealt with harshly and without mercy."

    The issue of ex-president Taylor being brought to justice had been a main conduction set by Liberia's international partners, particularly the European Union for development assistance to the country.

    Nigeria, under whose custody Taylor had been in for three years(2003-2006), had said that it would only hand over Taylor to a democratically elected government of Liberia.

    Taylor was taken to Nigeria under an internally brokered peace deal in August of 2003 to end 14 years of civil war in the country. He was considered an obstacle to peace in Liberia and a destabilizing agent in the region.

    His support to the RUF rebels for "bloody diamonds" in the brutal civil war in Sierra Leone which witnessed the recruitment of child soldiers and the amputation of limbs of innocent children cause his indictment on 11-count charges relating to crimes against humanity and war crimes.

    The United Nations peacekeeping troops in the West African state arrested Taylor Wednesday afternoon and transferred him to Sierra Leone upon his immediate deportation from Nigeria where he had attempted to escape in breach of his asylum status. Enditem