Jailed Maldivian opposition leader and former president Mohamed Nasheed left the country today for urgent medical treatment in Britain after a delay caused by a legal dispute with the government, his party said.

Nasheed was originally due to leave on Sunday in line with a deal brokered by diplomats from neighbouring India and Sri Lanka as well as former colonial power Britain.

But the former leader refused a government request to leave a relative behind to act as a guarantor liable to prosecution if he failed to return to serve the rest of his 13-year sentence, leading to a tense back and forth over conditions.

One of his international lawyers, Jared Genser, said Nasheed had spoken with the United States Secretary of State by telephone at Male international airport shortly before he boarded a Sri Lankan airlines flight to Colombo before transiting to Britain.