Human rights groups in Niger have appealed to the government not to try the soldiers who recently went on mutiny by court martial, as demanded by the country's ruling coalition.

A state of alert imposed in Niger on Monday could threaten freedom of expression, according to Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), which has urged President Mamadou Tandja to repeal the decree through which he instituted the measure.

The government of coup-prone Niger said its troops had foiled an attempted mutiny in Niamey early on Monday after heavy overnight gunfire in the capital of the West African country.

Burkina Faso and Niger are to conduct a joint campaign to vaccinate at least 500,000 children aged 12 months to five years, officials of the World Health Organization (WHO) in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, told IRIN.

Abdoulaye Tiémogo, publication director of the satirical weekly "Le Canard déchaîné", was arrested on 18 June 2002 further to Prime Minister Hama Amadou's filing of a complaint for "defamation". RSF has urged the prime minister to withdraw his complaint and see to it that the journalist is released immediately.