Reports from Senegal say the army has been reinforcing its troops in Guinea Bissau, where they are supporting President Vieira against a four-month-old army mutiny.

One newspaper Wal Fadjri said more than a-thousand troops were sent by boat on Monday to strengthen the two-thousand-five-hundred Senegalese troops already there.

Other reports put the figure higher.

Correspondents say the conflict could be coming to a head as the rebel leader, Ansumane Mane, warned yesterday that he would go on the offensive if further munitions were brought into Bissau port.

Several newspapers in Senegal including the state-owned Le Soleil have called for the withdrawal of Senegalese troops from what they said was a lost cause.

The Bissau rebels are now reported to control ninety per cent of the country.