UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan confirmed Wednesday that former Liberian president Charles Taylor will be sent to the Sierra Leonean Court.

Annan told reporters at UN headquarters in New York that he had spoken to Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo in Washington Tuesday night.

"We do expect Taylor to be sent to the Sierra Leonean Court some time today, and the Court will put him under custody," the secretary-general observed.

He admitted that it is not excluded that Taylor may go via Liberia, but stressed that "even if he does go via Liberia, I am not sure if he would go into Monrovia, or if he would transit through the airport."

Annan also pointed out that Taylor's recapture and being put on trial not only close a chapter, but also send a powerful message to the region that "impunity will not be allowed to stand, and would-be warlords will pay a price."

"I think this is relevant, not just for what happened in Sierra Leone and Liberia, but in other parts of the region and the continent," he concluded.

Taylor, who disappeared from his residence in southeastern Nigeria one day ago, was detained on Wednesday in a state bordering Cameroon.

Source: Xinhua