Liberia’s exiled former leader Charles Taylor has been caught on the Cameroon border on his way out of Nigeria, a Nigerian police official has said.
Mr Taylor’s disappearance on Monday from his villa came just 48 hours after Nigeria had said Liberia was free to “take Taylor into custody”.
Mr Taylor was indicted on 17 charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, for backing Sierra Leone’s rebels
He resigned in 2003 and went into exile in a deal to end Liberia’s civil war.
Nigeria had been sharply criticised for allowing Mr Taylor to escape, with US President George W Bush facing calls to cancel his planned meeting with Nigerian counterpart Olusegun Obasanjo in Washington later on Wednesday.
President Obasanjo had been “very shocked” by Mr Taylor’s disappearance, Nigerian Information Minister Frank Nweke told the BBC’s Focus on Africa programme.
Nigeria had arrested Mr Taylor’s Nigerian guards and set up a panel to investigate the matter, and to establish whether he escaped or was abducted, Mr Nweke said.
Escape
After Nigeria announced it would let Mr Taylor face trial, Desmond de Silva, chief prosecutor of the war crimes court in Sierra Leone, called for Mr Taylor’s immediate arrest, warning he could use his vast wealth and contacts to organise his escape.
He described Mr Taylor as one of the three most important wanted war crimes suspects in the world.
He then condemned his reported escape as “an affront to justice”.
Lobby group Human Rights Watch called Mr Taylor’s disappearance is a “disgrace”, whilst United Nations Secretary General Kofi Annan said he was deeply concerned.
He called for countries in the region not to give refuge to Mr Taylor and to comply with a request to hand him over.
US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice said reports of Charles Taylor’s escape were a matter of “utmost seriousness”.
She stressed to a congressional panel that Nigeria had made a commitment that Mr Taylor would be monitored while in exile.
Ms Rice did not respond to a suggestion by one of the senators that it would be inappropriate to hold the Bush-Obasanjo talks under the circumstances.