Obesity is so revered among Mauritania's white Moor Arab population that the young girls are sometimes force-fed to obtain a weight the government has described as "life-threatening". A generation ago, over a third of women in the country were force-fed as children - Mauritania is one of the few African countries where, on average, girls receive more food than boys.

Lawyers defending Mauritanian opposition leader Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla against charges of threatening state security, walked out of court on Tuesday in the capital, Nouakchott, forcing a temporary suspension of hearings. Ould Haidalla, runner-up in last month's presidential elections, first appeared in court on Monday in a court session that lasted more than six hours.

The ruler of this Islamic African republic is doing his utmost to be a loyal ally in the war on terrorism: He has jailed Muslim clerics for speaking against the war in Iraq, banned political sermons, and outlawed anti-US rallies, but there are fears that allying with the US could stir up Islamic anger.

Mauritanian police arrested top opposition presidential candidate Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidallah for a second time on Sunday on suspicion of planning a coup following the re-election of longtime leader Maaouiya Ould Taya. Ould Haidallah (63) a former president who was overthrown by Ould Taya in a 1984 coup, came a distant second to his rival, a former comrade-in-arms, in Friday's presidential election.

Support for opposition candidate Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla is growing in the campaign for Mauritania's 7 November presidential election. His unexpected popularity has prompted aides of President Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, to admit privately that the incumbent head of state may get less than 50 percent of the vote and be forced into a second round-run off two weeks later.