Two weeks after the Malian government said it had foiled an attempted mutiny, President Konare has appointed a number of generals to posts within his civilian administration.

Two have been appointed special envoys to Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone, while other senior officers have been attached to the communications and health ministries.

The Malian opposition has accused the government of panicking in the face of the popularity of the coup in neighbouring Ivory Coast.

Meanwhile in the Gambia, the interior minister Osman Baji has told a press conference that more soldiers have been arrested in connection with an alleged coup attempt there last Friday. But Mr Baji refused to give any details for what he called security reasons.

A correspondent for the BBC in Gambia says that, with so little evidence produced, many people doubt whether there really was a coup attempt.

Its announcement coincides with opposition allegations of corruption against President Yahia Jammeh.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service