Liberia's jailed ex-President and war criminal Charles Taylor appears to have written to MPs demanding an annual state pension of $25,000 (£15,600).

Liberian Senate Secretary Nanborloh Singbeh said the letter would be discussed by MPs next week.

The letter purportedly from Taylor says the withholding of his presidential pension is a "mammoth injustice".

Last May, a UN-backed court sentenced him to 50 years in prison on 11 counts of war crimes.

He became the first former head of state to be convicted on such charges by an international court since the Nuremberg trials of Nazis after World War II.

Taylor, who is in jail at The Hague, is appealing against the judgement by the UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone.

It ruled that as Liberia's president, he aided and abetted Sierra Leone's rebels during the 1991-2002 civil war.

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The BBC's Jonathan Paye-Layleh reports from the capital, Monrovia, that the signature on the letter very much looks like that of Taylor.

However, the letter contains some simple spelling errors, such as "principal" for principle, "cease" for seize and "giving" for given, he says.

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May I, with respect, request in this formal manner the intervention of this august body in bringing an end to this mammoth injustice ”

Charles Taylor
Liberia's ex-leader
This has raised questions about whether Taylor personally wrote the letter, our correspondent adds.

However, Taylor's brother-in-law Arthur Saye told our reporter that the ex-president did write the letter.

The letter also calls for the government to give accommodation and diplomatic passports to Taylor's wife Victoria and his two daughters.

"The fact is that I have not received my entitlement as set out under the law as a former president of Liberia since I resigned the office on August 11, 2003," the letter to the senate reads.

"May I, with respect, request in this formal manner the intervention of this august body in bringing an end to this mammoth injustice and cause my law annuities to be made available to me."

Taylor is also quoted in the letter as saying that he is entitled to consular access and diplomatic services at The Hague, but he has been "denied that right".

Our correspondent says Liberian law states that a former president who has "honourably retired to private life and who is not in any way gainfully employed by government" would receive a pension equal to half the salary of the incumbent president.

braine: He is entitled to it as a former president !

babyosisi: Why not
Gowon receives one doesn't he?

Doesn't Babangida?

3RNEST:
Yes ma! he deserve to have it!

babyosisi:

See me see trouble o
Why shouldn't they pay the man?
Was he not a president?

3RNEST:
indeed but who will enjoy the MA(money)