UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan on Tuesday voiced concern about the disappearance of former Liberian President Charles Taylor, an indicted war crimes suspect, from Nigeria.

"We are trying to get more facts about it. It would be extremely worrying if indeed he had disappeared, because the Nigerian government had indicated it will cooperate with his transfer to Liberia and to the court," Annan told reporters.

The Nigerian authorities said earlier Tuesday that Taylor, wanted for war crimes by a UN-backed international court in Sierra Leone, had "disappeared" Monday night from his residence in Nigeria where he had been in exile since 2003.

Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo has ordered an inquiry into the circumstances of the disappearance on Monday night to ascertain whether he escaped or was abducted.

"It will be very disappointing if this is indeed correct," Annan said, adding that he would talk to the Nigerian authorities about the matter.

The UN Security Council also expressed concern about Taylor's disappearance.

"Members of the council expressed concern about the news of the disappearance of former president of Liberia Charles Taylor," Argentina's UN envoy Cesar Mayoral said in a brief statement.

"We agreed to have tomorrow a briefing from the (UN) Secretariat for more information about this disappearance," said Mayoral, whose country holds the council presidency for March.

Nigeria terminated on Sunday the asylum it granted to Taylor and agreed to hand him over to the Liberian government.

Taylor's exile to Nigeria was part of the August 2003 peace deal which ended 14 years of civil war in Liberia and put in place a two-year transitional government until 2005.

But by then, Taylor had been indicted on 17 counts by the special court in Sierra Leone, for crimes against humanity and war crimes for fueling the civil war there, when he allegedly supported rebels against the Sierra Leonean government in return for "bloody diamonds."

Source: Xinhua