An outbreak of cholera has killed 17 people in recent weeks in a swampy area of the Niger valley near the city of Mopti in central Mali, government officials said on Monday.

The national university of Niger has reopened after two weeks of official closure following student demonstrations earlier this month. Officials said on Monday that classes were due to resume this week. The government unexpectedly closed Abdou Moumouni national university in the capital, Niamey, on 13 October following two days of anti-government demonstrations on 8 and 9 October.

Ibrahim Sorley, managing editor of the weekly 'Le Enqueteur' was sentenced to a 12-month "suspended jail term" by the Niamey Regional Court on October 14 2003. The court also barred Sorley from staying in the capital, Niamey, for three months.

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) has expressed concern over the continued imprisonment of Ibrahim Souley, the publication director of the private weekly "L'Enquêteur". Souley is expected to face trial on charges of spreading propaganda and "inciting ethnic hatred".