United Nations - A verdict in the long war crimes trial of former Liberian President Charles Taylor is not now expected until the end of this year, although the defense is cutting back on witnesses, a prosecutor said on Monday.

Taylor, 62, denies all 11 charges of instigating murder, rape, mutilation, sexual slavery and conscription of child soldiers during intertwined wars in Liberia and Sierra Leone in which more than 250,000 people were killed.

His trial by the U.N.-backed court for Sierra Leone in The Hague officially opened in June 2007, but was almost immediately adjourned after Taylor boycotted proceedings and fired his legal team. It began in earnest in January 2008.

Acting prosecutor Joseph Kamara of Sierra Leone told Reuters in an interview he was "optimistic that by the end of this year we should see a closure to this case." Any appeal could take three to four more months, he added.

The original prosecutor, American Stephen Rapp, said a year ago he expected a verdict early this year, a target that was later put back until mid-2010.

Prosecutors say Taylor armed and directed Revolutionary United Front rebels to win control of neighboring Sierra Leone's diamond mines and destabilize its government to boost his regional influence during the West African country's 1991-2002 civil war.