AFP - Former Liberian president Charles Taylor tried to broker peace in Sierra Leone rather than fuel civil war, his defence lawyer said Monday, as his war crimes trial resumed.

"We are here to defend a man who we say is innocent of all these charges," Taylor's lawyer Courtenay Griffiths told the court.

"Taylor was not an African Napoleon bent on taking over the sub-region. He had a front line role in the conflict as a broker of peace."

Taylor is to take the stand on Tuesday to answer the charges of murder, rape, conscripting child soldiers, enslavement and pillaging, arising from Sierra Leone's 1991-2001 civil war.

The 61-year-old is accused of arming, training and controlling Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels blamed for many of the mutilations, and of involvement in the "blood diamonds" trade.

"The accused will deny the allegations that he controlled the RUF," said Griffiths.

"He will say:'How could I have been micromanaging a conflict in Sierra Leone as alleged when I as newly elected president of Liberia had so much on my plate'?"

Prosecutor Stephen Rapp has insisted that Taylor was "an exceptional violator of human rights".

The ex-leader's testimony is expected to last from six to eight weeks and should shed new light on certain episodes of the wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia.

A final verdict in the case is only expected in a year's time.

Taylor has been on trial in The Hague since January, 2008. Following his arrest in Nigeria he was handed over to the Special Tribunal for Sierra Leone in 2006.

The former warlord was president of Liberia from 1997 after his rebel forces unseated President Samuel Doe, but was himself overthrown by a rebellion and went into exile in 2003.

Taylor's trial was moved from Sierra Leone to the Netherlands because of fears that his presence in the African country could destabilise the region.