Senegal's army never defeated the rebels

The Senegalese army has launched an offensive against rebels in the southern Casamance region, after 16 villagers had their left ears cut off.

A military spokesman said the operation was aimed at protecting villagers from attack during the cashew-nut harvest.

The MFDC rebel group, which has waged a long separatist campaign in the region, has denied links to the mutilations.

Senegalese human rights groups say the attack threatens the relative calm in the area in recent months. "The operations are still under way. We need to protect the villagers who are busy harvesting cashew nuts, so that they can continue safely their activities," Commander Prosper Basse told the BBC.

The cashew-nut harvest time has regularly seen an upsurge in violence and armed attacks. Cashew nuts are one of the area's main cash crops. "These are awful attacks and we can't tolerate them," the army spokesman said. He did not indicate if any arrests had been made.

Local media say the offensive is targeting rebel bases near the border with Guinea-Bissau. The Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) has condemned the attack as "barbarous".

"Our interest is to maintain calm until we can sit down with the government of Senegal and bring definitive peace to Casamance. We do not want civilians to be targeted," said the MFDC's Antoine Diamacoune.

This is the first case of such deliberate mutilation during the region's 26 years of conflict.

Lansana Manga, 31, said they were harvesting the nuts in Niaguis, 20km from the regional capital, Ziguinchor, when they were approached by men dressed in military fatigues and armed with rifles.

"They tied our hands before cutting off one ear each," he told the AFP news agency. "They said it was to punish us because we were in their territory." The National Human Rights Organisation has demanded that the perpetrators be found and charged with crimes against humanity.

The African Alliance for the Defence of Human Rights - another Dakar-based group, earlier involved in mediation efforts between the government and the MFDC - also expressed concern. It said the mutilation may put an end to the relative lull which has prevailed in the province for the past few months.

A peace deal was signed with the main MFDC faction in 2004 but armed robbery remains common in the area, badly hitting its once vibrant tourist industry. The Gambia lies between Casamance and the rest of Senegal and the MFDC rebels started a war for independence in 1982.
BBC NEWS REPORT.

Esther (not her real name), 28, a professional living and working in Zimbabwe's capital, Harare, is writing a regular diary on the challenges of leading a normal life. Zimbabwe is suffering from an acute economic crisis. The country has the world's highest rate of annual inflation and just one in five has an official job.

I have a friend whose brother works as a teacher in an area that is said to be experiencing some of the worst post-election violence. When schools opened about two weeks ago, he decided to stay away from there. After a while he thought it would be safe to return to his school, as he had heard no reports of violence there.

He was abducted from his home on Monday night, beaten up and returned to his home. He managed to send text messages to his family, and told them not to come and collect him to seek medical treatment as he was instructed by his assailants not to leave the area "Or else." Because he does not hold a Zanu-PF membership card, it was assumed he was an MDC supporter.

And the worst part was that he was given a "certificate" to show he had received his beating.

He was told to produce it whenever someone else wanted to beat him as proof that it had already been done. The paper even had a date stamp and the signature of the leader of the group.

Another friend of mine had an uncle who recently passed away. He told me he was debating whether or not to go to the countryside for the funeral.

A number of farms have been attacked by "war veterans"

His parents had told him that "war veterans" in the area had set up road blocks, were stopping and searching all vehicles, and telling people travelling in from Harare to go back where they had come from.

There is a good chance that warning would come after a beating they said. In the end, he decided to go and honour his uncle's memory, and face whatever he came across.

He has not yet returned, so I do not know how he fared.

People are saying this is what the run-up to the presidential election run-off is going to be about - violence and intimidation. The idea is to force supporters of the opposition to stay away from their homes so that on voting day they cannot cast their vote. There is no chance that these people are lying. The reports are too numerous and are coming from too many areas.

For the urbanites, the struggle is - as always - with ever increasing prices. Public transport fares doubled over one week. Last Friday, a single fare was $50m, today, exactly one week later it is $100m. The list of what we thought were basics that have since become luxuries continues to grow.

For example, laundry soap now doubles up as bath soap. You can do without bread, and grow your own sweet potatoes instead. If you cannot grow them, then buy them, they are still a lot cheaper. But this week, I do not feel so much for my people as I do for the Burmese.

Cold, wet, hungry and homeless as their leaders think about whether or not to accept foreign aid. The suffering ordinary people have to endure as the world respects sovereignty is beyond belief.

Esther answers your questions

Q: Esther, what makes you think Tsvangirai will change Zimbabwe's economic crisis in the country?
Koryom, Juba, Sudan

A: He has an economic recovery plan to resuscitate the economy and he is willing to re-engage the international community.National pride is all well and good, but no economy can survive without trade with other nations.

Q: In your last diary you talked about how Morgan Tsvangirai has an economic recovery plan, but has he talked about how Zimbabwe can improve the production of goods and services, and if he has, how is his economic recovery plan going to promote this?
Maynard, Australia

A: I would be doing it an injustice to comment on its contents, I just know it exists, and it talks of restarting the manufacturing industry.

Q: Now that the 'verified' results have been announced and the MDC is still pondering whether to go for a run-off, what do you think the MDC leadership should come up with now, given the fact that the military are poised to shoot to kill any opposition leader who will be in their sights?
Robson, Livingstone, Zambia

A: Can they come up with anything? Even if they do, they cannot even communicate effectively with the people. Local TV & radio media are 100% Zanu-PF. I think they are stumped. This is why they are flying from one country to another, keeping Zimbabwe in the spotlight - they do not know what else to do. Home is unsafe, and not just for them, but for all their supporters.

Q: We get reports of people being intimidated by war veterans etc in rural areas and either being beaten for voting opposition, or being warned that if they vote opposition they will be attacked. The question I have is, how do they know which people or which villages voted for the opposition or for Mugabe? Is the vote not secret?
Beng Tang, Singapore

A: Remember this election was actually four in one - Senatorial, Parliamentary, Council & Presidential. The country was divided into constituencies and those are futher divided into wards for the Council election, and one could only vote in their ward. Wards are pretty small, especially in the rural areas. So it is very easy to see how a ward voted, and this is what is being used. You can never again tell the rural electorate that their vote is secret, we have all seen that it is not.

Q: What happens to Zimbabwe if Zanu-PF happens to win a re-run, are you going to wait and see Zimbabwe being destroyed for another five years?
Kwandu, Lusaka, Zambia

A: I pray it does not come to that, but if it does, I give up and they win. I could not live through another five years of this.

Q: It seems to me that the situation has gone way beyond the point you Zimbabweans can bear. How come some 43% of the population still voted for him? Zimbabweans had a golden chance of getting rid of this tyrant but you threw it away. You gave him votes again. How can the outside world intervene in these circumstances?
Owen, Zomba, Malawi

A: We in the urban areas could not believe it either. It looks like he still has support, especially in the rural areas where people survive on subsistence farming, have never had access to running water, electricity, fuel, paved roads etc. They do not see how the infrastructure is crumbling. They still see him as a liberation hero, even though that's 30 year old news.

Q: Esther, you are doing great telling the story from within. What we see on the media and read on the paper is not the same as coming from you, as someone who lives there. Where do you see yourself one year from now in Zimbabwe?
Samson, Toronto, Canada

A: I see myself living in a country where we are all working together to rebuild and restore our land. Where the political party you support is not a closely guarded secret lest it land you in hospital or worse. Saving to buy a new car, not an import with 10 000km on the dial already. Getting a mortgage to buy a house (you know there is no credit in Zimbabwe anymore, not even for clothes?) That is the dream, but it seems more & more unrealistic each day.

High stakes of Lebanon's crisis In pictures: Battle for Beirut

Gunmen from the Shia militant group Hezbollah have seized most of western Beirut, driving out supporters of the Western-backed government.

The gunmen, who also back Hezbollah's Shia opposition allies, have forced the closure of pro-government media.

The fighting was sparked by a government move on Monday to shut down Hezbollah's telecoms network.

At least 11 people, mainly civilians, have been killed and dozens injured in the city in three days of clashes.

The UN Security Council has urged the rival parties to stop fighting amid fears of civil war breaking out. Lebanon was plunged into civil war from 1975-90, drawing in Syria and Israel, the two regional powers.

BEIRUT FLASHPOINTS Future TV News: Attacked by gunmen Hariri residence: Fence hit by rocket-propelled grenade Siniora office: Prime minister reportedly holed up with staff Al-Mustaqbal: Newspaper office partially set on fire Hamra Street: March by armed Shia militants In pictures: Lebanon crisis

Analysts say the key to avoiding such a conflict this time may be the neutrality of the army, and its ability to withstand the sectarian tensions.

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad, whose country long dominated neighbouring Lebanon, said on Friday that the political crisis there was an "internal matter".

Having withdrawn its army from the country in 2005, Syria denies meddling in Lebanon's internal politics.

But Damascus has been accused of involvement in the assassination over the past three years of several anti-Syrians, including Rafik Hariri, a former prime minister.

Lebanon has been without a president since late 2007, amid deadlock between the ruling coalition and Hezbollah-led opposition over the make-up of the government.

As residents of west Beirut fled on Friday, the Italian government was reported to be drawing up an evacuation plan for any of its nationals wanting to leave the city.

Earlier, media offices owned by Saad Hariri, a leader of the governing coalition, were shut after being attacked by militants loyal to Hezbollah.

The army moved in after gunmen besieged TV station Future News and partially set fire to the offices of al-Mustaqbal newspaper. Mr Hariri's radio station was also silenced.

 A compromise was reached for the premises to be taken over and protected by the Lebanese army at the price of going off the air. The Lebanese army command has warned its unity is at risk if the crisis in the capital drags on. Several Sunni neighbourhoods in west Beirut, considered strongholds of Lebanon's ruling bloc, have reportedly been over-run by militants from Hezbollah and its Shia ally Amal.

I hope that a return to the catastrophic days of the 70's and 80's can be avoided

A rocket-propelled grenade hit the fence of the heavily protected home of Mr Hariri in western Beirut's Koreitem neighbourhood, officials said. Mr Hariri - Lebanon's top Sunni politician - was thought to have been inside at the time.

Prime Minister Fouad Siniora was reportedly holed up in his heavily guarded offices along with several ministers in downtown Beirut. The urban warfare has shut down Lebanon's seaport and all but closed the international airport, with burning barricades on major roads in Beirut.

The BBC's Jim Muir in the city says it all amounts to a humiliating blow to the government. It appears to have badly overplayed its hand in moving to close Hezbollah's telecoms network on Tuesday, he says.

Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah has called the move a "declaration of war".

Mr Hariri said it was a "misunderstanding" and urged gunmen from both sides to withdraw "to save Lebanon from hell".

Aid from a number of Asian countries has been arriving in Burma

The World Food Programme has halted aid shipments to Burma after it says two plane-loads of food were impounded on arrival by the military authorities.

The UN body says the Burmese government seized tonnes of aid material flown in to help victims of Cyclone Nargis, which has killed tens of thousands.

The WFP said it had no choice but to halt aid until the matter was resolved.

A Burmese government spokesman told the Associated Press the UN claims were "baseless accusations". Ye Htut said the government had taken control of the aid to distribute it "without delay by its own labour to the affected areas". The country's ruling generals have faced mounting criticism over their handling of the crisis.

The UN fears more than 1.5 million people have been affected by the cyclone, with tens of thousands made homeless and vulnerable to disease. The World Health Organization says access to clean drinking water and outbreaks of communicable diseases such as dengue and malaria are a major concern.

It is sitting in a warehouse it is not in trucks heading to Irrawaddy Delta where it is critically needed Paul Risley World Food Programme World wrestles with aid issue

Burmese state media say 22,980 people were killed, but there are fears the figure could rise.

Britain's ambassador to Burma, Mark Canning, said authoritative sources were now speaking of between 63,000 and 100,000 people dead or missing.

Hundreds of thousands of people have no food, water or shelter. International aid agencies on the ground say seven tonnes of high-energy biscuits have been distributed in the delta region, but they have reached only 10% of those that need help. Despite this, Burma's foreign ministry issued a statement on Friday saying it was not ready to allow foreign aid workers to enter the country. The junta said it was happy to accept aid, but insisted it would control the distribution itself.

WFP spokesman Paul Risley said two flights of "critically-needed food aid" - including 38 tonnes of high-energy biscuits - arrived in Burma on Friday but was confiscated.

AID PLEDGES UK $10m UN $10m Japan $10m US $3m France $3m Australia $2.8m In pictures: Cyclone survivors Rangoon's hardship

"This is extremely disturbing news for us," he said.

"We are very concerned that this food is not reaching - on day six after a cyclone - the very victims of that cyclone.

"We have appealed to the minister for social welfare to release that food as quickly as possible so that it can continue on its way south to the victims of the cyclone.

"Three flights were scheduled for Saturday but now we have no choice but to suspend food aid until the food in the warehouse is released for WFP to distribute it," he told the BBC. "It is sitting in a warehouse, it is not in trucks heading to Irrawaddy Delta where it is critically needed."

The WFP said that although flights were suspended, it would continue to pack up and prepare further supplies and negotiate with the Burmese authorities in the hope of releasing the aid and getting further flights in. The BBC's Jonathan Head in neighbouring Thailand says that given how little aid is getting into Burma, this was a disappointing setback.

EXTENT OF THE DEVASTATION See map and satellite images Send us your comments

He said the military leaders appeared to be putting their pride and entrenched suspicion of foreigners before the lives of their people.

One aid official told him the Burmese government was "murdering their own people by letting them die".

Tim Costello, from World Vision Australia, said aid workers in Burma were experiencing feelings of guilt about not being able to do enough and felt fear and frustration as a result of that. "But their job is to work with the situation and keep hope alive and keep going," he told a Disasters Emergency Committee news conference in London.

The BBC's Paul Danahar, in southern Burma despite restrictions on journalists, says the survivors need more than food. He says they have been cut off and helpless for seven days and are surrounded by tens of thousands of rotting corpses. What they really need, he says, is the corpses to be moved, clean water, shelter, and efforts to start rebuilding the devastated infrastructure.  

The UN refugee agency, the UNHCR, says two trucks with shelter supplies are due to cross the border from Thailand on Saturday. Spokeswoman Vivian Tan said the agency had assurances from the government that it would be allowed to monitor the distribution process. "It is a small drop in the ocean given the needs on the ground," she told the BBC. "But given the scale of the crisis we need to explore different delivery routes."

Thailand's Foreign Minister, Noppadon Pattma, said he would be asking his Burmese counterpart to be more flexible regarding the admission of aid and aid teams. "Myanmar (Burma) should be more responsive to international assistance but we cannot force Myanmar to do it, we have to respect her own decision," he told the BBC.

"But the Myanmar people should be at the centre of considerations."

BBC NEWS REPORT.

People in affected regions are living in horrific conditions, experts say

Burma wants supplies but not foreign aid workers, its foreign ministry says, hours after the UN chief urged military leaders to prioritise relief work.

Burma is "making strenuous efforts" to get aid to affected areas by itself and was not ready for foreign teams, a statement in a state daily says.

UN officials have expressed mounting frustration over Burma's failure to accept international help.

Some aid has made it in, but experts stress that it is nothing like enough. The UN says that up to 1.5 million people may have been affected by Cyclone Nargis, which devastated the Irrawaddy Delta region on Saturday. Burmese state media say 22,980 people were killed, but there are fears the figure could rise to 100,000.

There is a real danger that an even worse tragedy may unfold if we cannot get the aid that's desperately needed in quickly John Holmes UN humanitarian head Burma: How you can help Eyewitness: Terrible disruption Burma: The aid effort

Hundreds of thousands of people have no food, water or shelter. Officials say people could die because no help is getting to them.

In a statement, UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon urged the junta to prioritise the aid effort over tomorrow's nation-wide referendum on a widely-criticised new constitution.

It would be "prudent to focus instead on mobilising all available resources and capacity for the emergency response efforts", he said. In a foreign ministry statement carried by The New Light of Myanmar daily, Burma's government said it would accept cash or emergency aid, but not international teams.

EXTENT OF THE DEVASTATION See map and satellite images Send us your comments In pictures: Burma five days on Blogging the cyclone

"Currently Myanmar (Burma) has prioritised receiving emergency relief provisions and is making strenuous efforts to transport those provisions without delay by its own labours to the affected areas," it said.

"As such, Myanmar is not ready to receive search and rescue teams as well as media teams from foreign countries."

A BBC correspondent in the storm-hit region says Burmese troops have begun distributing significantly more aid.

But international experts agree that the military regime lacks the resources to coordinate an effective relief effort, given the magnitude of the disaster. It has accepted limited help - some countries which have good relations with Burma have flown aid in.

Four flights carrying supplies from the UN's World Food Programme arrived in Rangoon on Thursday, as did an International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) flight. But at least 40 UN expert staff are waiting in Bangkok for visas - and two members of a specialist UN disaster assessment team were also denied access when they arrived in Burma, despite apparently having the correct documents.

On Thursday, the UN's humanitarian chief, John Holmes, told reporters that Burma's response to the disaster was "nothing like as much as is needed". As many as 1.5 million people were severely affected, he said, and there was a "real danger that an even worse tragedy may unfold if we cannot get the aid that's desperately needed in quickly".

Reports yesterday suggested the US had been granted permission to fly in supplies using military planes - but officials later said no agreement had been reached. "We are in a long line of nations who are ready, willing and able to help, but also, of course, in a long line of nations the Burmese don't trust," US Ambassador Eric John said in Bangkok. "It's more than frustrating. It's a tragedy," he said.

BBC NEWS REPORT.