The rise and fall of former Liberian president Charles Taylor

1990: Rebel leader Charles Taylor in Buchanan, Liberia, during a march on the capital, Monrovia, to oust President Samuel Doe after a five-month insurgency Photograph: Pascal Guyot/AFP

2000: President Taylor sits on a throne with a traditional dancer at his feet, during a ceremony where Ghanian immigrants crowned him Chief Okatakyie, the Greatest of Warriors Photograph: David Guttenfelder/AP

2000: A patrol from the Sierra Leone Army passes the corpse of a Revolutionary United Front (RUF) fighter Photograph: Issouf Sanogo/AFP

2000: Maria Tukamara, 14, who has a five-month-old son, shows her artificial limbs in an amputee camp in the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown. Maria had her hands amputated by RUF fighters when they invaded her village in 1999 Photograph: Adam Butler/AP

2000: Diamond prospecters sift through mud in the Corbert mine in Waiima, Sierra Leone. The enormous wealth buried in the dirt helped drive the civil war that killed and maimed tens of thousands Photograph: Adam Butler/AP

2003: Bullet casings and cartridges in Monrovia during the second Liberian civil war, which resulted in the main rebel group, Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD), successfully exilingTaylor Photograph: Jehad Nga/Corbis

2003: Taylor attends a religious gathering led by American evangelical preacher Dr KA Paul in Monrovia Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP

2003: A Liberian child soldier fighting for Taylor's government Photograph: Nic Bothma/EPA

2003: A Liberian militia commander, loyal to the government, exults after firing a rocket-propelled grenade at rebel forces at a key strategic bridge in Monrovia Photograph: Chris Hondros/Getty Images Europe

2003: A man lies dead on a street in Monrovia. Looters reportedly killed by Liberian government fighters littered the street on the frontline Photograph: Jehad Nga/Corbis

2003: A nine-year-old Liberian government gunman fires down the Old Bridge in Monrovia Photograph: Nic Bothma/EPA

2003: Taylor at the ceremony where he officially handed over the presidency to his vice-president, Moses Blah Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP

2003: Taylor with his wife, Jewel Howard-Taylor, after officially relinquishing power Photograph: Ben Curtis/AP

2006: Taylor makes his first appearance at the UN-backed special court for Sierra Leone in Freetown Photograph: George Osodi/AFP

2009: Taylor during his war crimes trial in The Hague, at which he pleaded not guilty to 11 charges, including murder, sexual slavery and the use of child soldiers during the Sierra Leone civil war Photograph: AP