The former President of Chad, Hissene Habre, has been charged in Senegal with acts of torture and barbarity.

It's the first time a former African head of state has been indicted in another country for human rights offences.

The human rights campaigners who brought the case said they had been inspired by the legal battle in Britain for the extradition of the former Chilean military leader, Augusto Pinochet to face torture charges in Spain.

Mr Habre, who's lived in exile in Senegal since being overthrown in 1990, is accused of killing and torturing thousands of political opponents. The BBC West Africa correspondent says the case has serious implications for other African dictators and leaders in other parts of the world who abuse human rights.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service