Participants in the Dakar motor rally have resumed their race in southern Libya after a six-day interruption which saw a huge air-lift over the Sahara Desert.

Thousands of tonnes of vehicles and equipment, and hundreds of drivers and race staff, were carried in a series of plane journeys from Niger.

The race was halted there because of suspicions that Algerian Islamic guerrillas posed a threat to the rally in northern Niger.

Drivers are now heading through Libya after re-starting yesterday.

The rally began almost two weeks ago in Dakar, Senegal, and is due to end in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on Sunday.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service