An American man who abducted his two children and was tracked down in Malta last March was arrested the minute he set foot in America for child abduction, after he found his way back home some time within the last two weeks, sources close to the Grecula family said.

Ronald Grecula, 65, had been on the Federal Bureau of Investigation's wanted list for the abduction of Berenger Julian, 10, and Emilie Gigi, 3, in November 2000.

His estranged wife Monique, 32, managed to track him down in Malta last March and filed proceedings for the return of her children through her lawyer Dr Aron Mifsud Bonnici.

The Greculas had been awarded joint custody of the children by a court in Pennsylvania, just a month before they were abducted, with primary physical custody vested in her and access rights given to the children.

After the abduction, a court in Pennsylvania had awarded her exclusive custody and the custody order was confirmed by Mr Justice Raymond Pace on March 6 along with authorisation for the children's departure from Malta with their mother.

Mr Justice Ray Pace had ruled that Grecula had uprooted his children from familiar surroundings capriciously and deprived them of their mother.