A 45-year-old arrested on suspicion of war crimes in south east London has been released under investigation.

The suspect was arrest at yesterday following an allegation of offences relating to the first and second Liberian Civil Wars between 1989 and 2003.

The offences are contrary to section 51 of the International Criminal Court Act 2001, which prohibits genocide, crimes against humanity or war crimes.

Searches of his property in south east London are ongoing.

The Liberian civil war raged from 1989 when minister Charles Taylor started an uprising in a bid to topple the government.

Backed by a rebel group, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), he gained control of large areas of the country and rose to become one of Africa's most prominent warlords.

The NPFL has been accused of a wide range of human rights abuses and the large numbers of deaths during the conflict eventually led to the involvement of the UN and the Economic Community of West African States.

A final peace agreement led to the election of Taylor as president of Liberia in 1997.

A second civil war broke out in 1999 and Taylor was forced into exile in 2003.
He was later jailed for committing war crimes in neighbouring Sierra Leone.