Lesotho opposition leader, Thomas Thabane nowhere to be found

Lesotho’s opposition leader and former prime minister, Thomas Thabane, has fled the country for the second time in a year, news agencies report.

Mr Thabane said he had fled to Botswana after discovering that there was a plan to assassinate him, he is quoted by AFP news agency as saying.

Mr Thabane fled to South Africa in August, claiming the military had staged a coup – a charge it denied. Lesotho, a mountain kingdom surrounded by South Africa, has experienced several coups since independence in 1966