Liberia's ex-president captured and sent for war crimes trial

"I'll be back," Liberian warlord-turned-president Charles Taylor vowed when he headed into exile three years ago. He probably hadnot imagined yesterday's homecoming.

After being captured by Nigerian police as he attempted to flee across the border into Cameroon with a trunk full of dollars, Mr Taylor was unceremoniously deported back to his native Liberia. After a brief stop he was whisked away from the country again on a UN helicopter for delivery to a war crimes tribunal.

At the airport, hundreds of UN peacekeepers had waited to arrest him and arrange a swift transfer to neighbouring Sierra Leone, where he is wanted on 17 counts of crimes against humanity.

It was a happy day for the UN-backed Special Court in Sierra Leone, which has been looking to take him into custody since 2003.

Prosecutors allege Mr Taylor took blood diamonds in return for supporting rebels who slaughtered, mutilated and gang-raped tens of thousands of civilians.

Officials say Mr Taylor will make an appearance in court within a week of his arrival in Sierra Leone, but his trial will not begin for six months. "His capture and his being put on trial does not only close a chapter, but it also sends a powerful message to the region that impunity will not be allowed to stand and would-be warlords will pay a price," said UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

Mr Taylor is regarded as the mastermind behind West Africa's intertwined conflicts, responsible for a 14-year civil war in Liberia, as well as sowing instability in Sierra Leone. But the process to bring him to justice has been long and chaotic.

Newly-elected Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, under pressure from Washington, requested at the beginning of March that Nigeria end Mr Taylor's exile.

First, Nigerian leader Olusegun Obasanjo dithered, saying he must consult with his African peers. He then, perversely, put the onus on Liberia to retrieve Mr Taylor.

Amidst this political wrangling, Mr Taylor made a run for it, aware that before long he might become the world's first leader to be indicted whilst in office and successfully prosecuted.

On Monday night, Mr Taylor escaped from his hilltop hideaway. But with Mr Obasanjo facing a worldwide outcry and an awkward meeting at the White House yesterday, the Nigerian authorities intercepted him after just 24 hours.

President George Bush praised the Nigerian government's efforts. "The fact that Charles Taylor will be brought to justice in a court of law will help Liberia and is a signal, Mr President, of your deep desire for there to be peace in your neighborhood," he told Mr Obasanjo in an Oval Office meeting.

The West African leader rejected claims that Nigerian authorities may have been complicit in the warlord's initial escape. "He would not have been arrested if there was negligence," Mr Obasanjo said.

The Liberian strongman was heading for the north-eastern border with Cameroon in a jeep with diplomatic license plates, more than 900 miles from where he had disappeared.

Now, the accommodation that Mr Taylor can look forward to is not a plush villa but a prison cell. "It is in fact a rather larger cell than the others," Desmond de Silva, the chief prosecutor for the Sierra Leone court, said. "We call it the presidential suite."