Military police in Madagascar have captured a notorious former army officer accused of having led a campaign of terror under former president, Didier Ratsiraka.

Colonel Ancelin Coutiti, the country's most wanted man, had a price of more than $100,000 on his head.

He went on the run, continuing to cause widespread alarm, after the country's bitter power struggle ended in July with the flight of Mr Ratsiraka to France.

He was finally arrested on the north-east coast of Madagascar.

Military police chief-of-staff Mamisoa Raoelison told AFP news agency that after his arrest he was taken under armed escort to the capital, Antananarivo.

Human shields

Former BBC correspondent in Madagascar, Jonny Donovan, says his capture will be a huge coup for the government as the former colonel was the last of Mr Ratsiraka's allies still at large.

Former President Ratsiraka flew off to France

He says suspicions had been raised about how one man had evaded capture for so long.

In the seven-month struggle for power in Madagascar, Eyewitnesses say Colonel Coutiti led gangs of soldiers and militiamen who beat up and tortured opponents.

In June, he took about 70 people hostage and chained them to iron railings outside the governor's office in the northern provincial city of Antsiranana.

He threatened to use them as human shields as President Marc Ravalomanana troops advanced on them.

Some 50 Ratsiraka supporters, including former ministers and soldiers, are currently in prison awaiting trial.