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Former Liberian President Charles Taylor waits for the start of his sentencing hearing in Leidschendam, near The Hague, Netherlands, Wednesday May 16, 2012. Taylor was to address judges personally during the sentencing hearing of his war crimes trial, asking for leniency even as he plans to appeal his conviction. In a landmark ruling in April, judges at the Special Court for Sierra Leone found Taylor guilty of 11 counts of war crimes and crimes against humanity, including murder, rape, and conscripting child soldiers. Judges at the U.N.-backed court said his aid was essential in in helping rebels across the border in Sierra Leone continue their bloody rampage during the West African nation's decade-long civil war, which ended in 2002 with more than 50,000 dead. (AP Photo/Evert-Jan Daniels, Pool)