Former Liberian Leader Taylor Disappears From Nigerian Villa
28 March 2006
Nigerian officials say former Liberian president and war crimes suspect Charles Taylor has disappeared from the house where he was living in exile in Nigeria.
A government statement Tuesday says Taylor left his villa in the southern town of Calabar some time Monday night. It says President Olusegun Obasanjo has set up a panel to investigate.
An Obasanjo spokeswoman says all of Taylor's security personnel have been arrested.
Taylor's disappearance came three days after the Nigerian government said Liberia was free to take him into custody.
Liberia had made no apparent move to arrest Taylor, with President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf saying he should go directly to a U.N.-backed war crimes court in Sierra Leone.
The court has indicted Taylor on 17 counts of crimes against humanity, in connection with his rule in Liberia and alleged backing of Sierra Leone rebels.
Nigeria granted the former leader asylum in 2003 as part of a peace deal to end Liberia's 14-year civil war.
On Sunday, the prosecutor at the Sierra Leone court urged Nigerian authorities to detain Taylor before he slipped away.
Taylor's disappearance comes one day before Nigerian President Obasanjo is scheduled to meet with President Bush in Washington.
Some information for this report was provided by AFP and AP.
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