Charles Taylor, the man who fled a US prison more than 20 years ago and went on to lead a rebellion that unleashed 14 years of brutal conflict in West Africa, is once again behind bars.

Now in a cell at a UN-backed court in Freetown, Sierra Leone's capital, the former president of Liberia, considered one of the world's foremost war crimes suspects, is due to be formally indicted today on 11 charges of crimes against humanity.