Former Liberian President Charles Taylor appeal to serve his 50-year jail sentence in Rwanda has been denied by the Residual Special Court for Sierra Leone.

"The motion is denied in its entirety," the court said in a ruling made on January 30 but only made public on Wednesday.

This means the former Liberia leader will spend the rest of his life in a British jail after judges at the international court in The Hague denied his request.

Taylor, who is now 67 years of age, was convicted by the UN-backed Special Court on Sierra Leone sitting in The Hague in 2012 that tried those who bore the heaviest burden for war crime and crimes against humanity committed during the Sierra Leone civil war.

International media report said Taylor's lawyers had argued that detaining him in Great Britain makes it difficult for his wife and family to visit him due to the difficulty in obtaining a British visa.

Former President Taylor becomes the first head of state to be sentenced by an international court since World War Two.

LINA