>> this is "bbc world news." funding for this presentation is made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you?

>> and now, "bbc world news." >> dashing through the desert, reports that a heavily armed libyan convoy has moved into neighboring niger. a desert town could be a staging post for members of the gaddafi entourage, leaving the country with cash and gold. welcome. a world of news and opinion. also in the program, first the tsunami and now a typhoon. japan pose emergency services struggles to reach remote communities. up to 40 people dead and 50 still missing. the syrian uprising for the first time red cross officials have given access to a damascus

present. midday in london, 7:00 a.m. in washington, 1:00 p.m. in libya, where there are reports that a convoy of heavily armed vehicles if have crossed the country's southern border into neighboring niger. pickup trucks laden with gold and currency, secret deals to give a fallen dictator a way out. speculation about all that and more. what do we actually know? bbc have learned that the convoy consisting of 50 vehicles and carrying members of the gaddafi entourage has reached a town. it is due to head true the country oppose the capital. now the latest from peter. >> the net closing around gaddafi or have his associates found an escape route? this is a quiet market town in northern niger.

now the focus of international attention amid reports that a libyan convoy has been heading in this direction. time information is biased. >> we have had reports in the past two days about the number of pro gaddafi forces try to exit the country. some of those have been confirmed and some have not. we still need to confirm the most recent reports. this points to an underlying fact, i hope, which is that many pro gaddafi forces realize that the game is over. >> south of tripoli, libya and rebels are engaged in a waiting game. they are trying to persuade gaddafi loyalists to surrender in what is one of their last on hold. the national transitional council has restored tribal elders that no one in the town will be hurt if people laid down their arms. >> we have a good promise from the clan leaders and late last

night we had discussions with them to try to convince snipers and remnants of gaddafi's regime to surrender their weapons. >> the transitional authorities in libya still hope that colonel gaddafi has not slipped out of the country. nato is refusing to comment on the intelligence it has gathered. that means a rumor and speculation will be at fever pitch until gaddafi is found. bbc news reporting. neart's go to my colleague that area in libya. what is the national transitional council saying about these reports of a convoy of fleeing south? >> they have put out one statement saying that there was gold and cash in the convoy. that is a source of suspicion

and perhaps a fear among rebel commanders is that gaddafi or his clothes are to rush are in some of those vehicles -- or his close entourage are in some of those vehicles. clearly the net is closing in the sense that -- >> all right, we seem to have a problem there with that line. let's move on now. joining me now from johannesburg is robert, from the oxford business school. thank you for joining us. would you be surprised if it is proved correct that members of the gaddafi entourage and perhaps even himself word to end up in one of these neighboring countries like burkina faso or

niger south of libya? >> it would not be surprising. as we have heard from algeria, they have already offered asylum. burkina faso has made offers as well. there's plenty of opportunities for places for gaddafi's clan to move through. it really depends on how the last few stages of the violence and conflict. conflict. if it turns out to be more violent than expected, we may actually see them moving on. it's not, then maybe a final stand. >> we have to be careful not to jump too far ahead of the facts -- and very few facts are known. you are an expert. what was gaddafi's relations with these countries and how did the nurture those relationships? >> gaddafi certainly positioned himself particularly in recent years as a strong leader, strong

figurehead at least, for africa. the reaction of other african states to that is often mixed, but there is no doubt that gaddafi through sovran well funds and development a passport quite a lot of money towards neighboring countries and farther south in sub-saharan africa. he has looked to strengthen political ties as well. so he has made quite a lot of effort in recent years to make sure that libya has encouraged -- as an encouraging position through those neighboring countries. >> i must stress that the reports we have heard about the convoy was accompanied by a malicious. -- militias. who are these people? >> it is early to determine who

is part of this convoy. but certainly gaddafi's forces during the conflict have called on a variety of different factions and a variety of different constituents. most prominently, mercenaries sometimes without their knowledge from sub-saharan africa played a role. but, also, gaddafi has looked to maximize division among tribes in libya by using the backing that he has received from clans around his hometown of certification and farther to the south -- his hometown of sirte. >> what is in it for a country like niger to harbor any member of the gaddafi clan? it's clear there's going to be a new government and a new libya. >> certainly -- i think that uncertainty is the name of the

game at this stage probably. we are not really sure how things will play out, particularly in the next few weeks, which is crucial in terms of libya later down the line. interco itself where it's not certain who is in power because the transitional council is still in flux -- in tripoli itself. >> i know that you are far away talking to us, but give us an idea of these desert countries. i presume the borders are pretty poor rest. could a convoy like this have gotten through without nato or someone spotting them? -- the borders are pretty poruous. >> the borders are porous.

there are countries along north africa that have had problems in the past been able to police the border is effectively. al qaeda was one of those examples. with the amount of surveillance from the air, it would not be surprising if nato was not aware of a convoy this size. >> robert, thanks for your time, really interesting. the bbc is in the capital of niger, joining us on the line. i know but you have been working your sources. what is the latest you can tell us about the reports of this convoy? >> well, the latest is that they are about 30 that have crossed the town.

these 30 vehicles are believed to be part of a gaddafi convoy that was cited yesterday heading towards the capital. they are believed in the capital because they passed particular district yesterday at 9:00 p.m. >> you have no doubt at all about the convoy. can you w shed any you who might be? -- be in it? >> we have not had a chance to see them or monitor their movement. it is commonly believed that they include people very close to gaddafi which would include his family members and his supporters, like his bodyguards and other key people within the establishment.

>> finally, what sort of reception would a gaddafi entourage be likely to receive in the capital of niger? >> its on the basis that of the relationship that he has with niger, which is a pretty good one because he has contributed to restoring peace in potomac the north of niger and helping with economic programs such as the production of crops in northern niger and the construction of roads in the southern half of the country as well as assisting in the humanitarian aid. it is believed that colonel gaddafi could have a warm

welcome in the capital especially with the current policies which are said to have a good relationship with libya. >> thank you very much for all of that. plenty of information coming in and interests and drabs. we will bring it to you as soon as we get it. let's take a look now some of the other stories making headlines around the world today. serbia pose a former army chief momcilo perisic has been found guilty of murder, persecution, and attacks on civilians in bosnia and croatia in the 1990's. the international war crimes court sentenced him to 27 years in prison. he was found guilty of helping to finance and plan war crimes, including the killing of 8000 muslim men and boys and that 42- month-long siege on sarajevo. in indonesia 12-year-old boy was killed in an earthquake and many homes collapsed near the western

island of sumatra, magnitude 6.6. helicopters have begun lifting supplies to communities cut off by a powerful typhoon in central and western japan. almost 40 people have been killed. more than 50 are missing after the country's most powerful storm in seven years triggered landslides and flash floods. the prefecture was most heavily hit with rain up to 180 centimeters. roland buerk has more. >> days after the typhoon lashed western japan, rescuers are still hoping to find survivors. police teams are flying into the remote mountains. the death toll is rising and dozens of people are still missing. the airlift was taking in supplies. billeted are being cut off by landslides. most of the elderly residents left without food, electricity, and water.

filled with debris. a painful reminder of the tsunami in march. the local mayor finds his daughter's body on sunday. his wife is missing and presumed dead. >> i have to think on how to help the people of this town deal with this disaster. only after that and i think about my family. i hope i can find my wife soon to send off my family with my daughter. >> a 24-year-old was due to celebrate her engagement on the day the storm swept in. elsewhere, a warehouse filled with explosives has been destroyed. more than half a ton of materials used for blasting tunnels is somewhere in the mud, hampering relief efforts. railways and roads across the region have been washed away. japan posing new prime minister

you see kono that is open to travel to areas affected by the typhoon -- yoshihido noda. he will be mindful that his -- he will be mindful that inapt handling of the former earthquake and tsunami in march was critical to his predecessor. >> in australia a man claiming to have a bomb in his backpack was holed up in a city law firms in australia after a tense standoff with police. the 52-year-old man was taken into custody. he had his daughter held hostage. a motive remains unclear. our correspondent doug ian kennedy is at the scene in sydney. or not quite at the scene, but give us the background to this case. a highly sensitive case.

>> a highly sensitive case. it ended without injury, remarkably. it began about 11 hours ago. this man walked into a law office demanding to see someone appear the receptionist said she did not know who he meant. whereupon he said he had a bomb in his backpack and the siege began. it lasted 11 hours, sometimes leading to some pretty erratic behavior from this man. we saw him hanging out of the window waving a judge's winnipig. he threw a bottle of the window and handed down a telephone through the window. extraordinary behavior. this was a concern for police, obviously, bearing in mind he had his 12-year-old daughter in the room at the time. during the course of the day the behavior was dealt with at very closely by the police. we have learned in the past few minutes that negotiations broke down and police made a forceful entry. we don't know whether the girl's life or the man's life were in

danger. they made the decision to go in. the girl and the man have been released unharmed. the girl is it's extremely distressed, understandably, after 11 hours. chia's been taken to the hospital by ambulance. the man has been taken into custody. our investigation into one what happened will begin. still ahead, we hear from the international red cross after they are allowed to visit the damascus central prison in syria. firefighters in the american state of texas are struggling to continue to wildfire that has destroyed hundreds of homes. the blaze, which is 25 kilometers wide, comes during the worst drought in half a century and texas. our correspondent in the united states has this report. >> 60 wildfires are raging

across texas. but this one is bad and burning out of control. 26 kilometers across, spreading fast through dry ground, in an area suffering its worst drought in 50 years. tackling it from the air is the only option. it is moving too quickly and ferociously to be fought from the ground. >> we had committed everything we have and not just on this far. we have hundreds of fires burning all across the state. destroying home after home. over 1000 firefighters currently in the state of texas working these fires. >> 300 homes have been destroyed. thousands of people evacuated. a tropical storm was too far away to provide desperately needed rain, but close enough to create high wind, which is spreading the flames. >> there is a volunteer fire department truck coming through on the loudspeaker telling everyone to evacuate now.

trucks coming down the street with the sirens. i got a call at work to come get my stuff because we were evacuated. but we have had something like this in the past, but this is much worse, larger scale. we're really asking for the community to work with us. >> a 20-year-old woman and her baby were killed after being trapped in a mobile home. national guard helicopters have been dropping fire retardant chemicals to try to stop the fire spreading. it is still completely on contained and continues to spread. bbc news, california. >> bbc world news. the headlines, there are reports that a convoy of heavily armed vehicles has crossed libya poses southern border into niger. helicopters begin lifting supplies to communities cut off

by a powerful typhoon in japan. almost 40 people died and more than 50 are still missing. the international committee of the red cross has been given permission to visit the damascus central prison for the first time during the five-month uprising in syria. protests continue in the country. activists say soldiers have raided homes and motorists. their 64 provincial attorney general who publicly defected from the president's regime last week. for more on this i'm joined on the line from damascus by the spokesperson from the red cross. managed to see?gistrac >> it is early to tell. our mode of operation does not allow us to divulge any information when we visit prisons. however, the most important

thing is that the president of the icrc was allowed to go through various parts of the country to assess the situation and provide assistance to people in need. the second thing is that this is our third day of visiting at least one jail in damascus. >> i completely understand the way in which the red cross works, and that you have to be careful what you say, there are confidentiality agreements with the government. but surely you can tell us whether you did in fact meet any activists fought. activists or not. >> as i said, is too early to tell. we have not spoken with our teams.

they are still visiting. they went mainly to visit facilities and to assess the conditions, health, conditions inside the facility. rihanna not talking about -- we are not talking about a certain type of detainee. we are trying to visit everybody who is being detained in any detention center. >> you can understand why we would be suspicious, concerned that the red cross has shown only what the authorities in syria want you to see. how can you help us with that? >> it is that oldest humanitarian situation. this is a very important part of our mandate. we have been doing this almost 150 years. we know how to deal with this situation. we know how to interview people. people are interviewed one-on-

one. that is inside these facilities. in addition w to the addition we will try to reach -- in addition to the fact that we will try to reach every prisoner. vrs starting with the central prison. we will visit everybody. this is part of human rights, anyway. >> we have to leave it there. thank you very much. now to business news. aaron has drastic news by the swiss to deal with their franc. unprecedented.n the swiss national bank has set a minimum exchange rate of 120 franc to the euro, the current value of they franc is a threat to the economy. they would buy unlimited foreign currency.

swiss exporters and economists warn that the soaring franc risks tipping switzerland into a recession. you want to see a dramatic graph? this is the swiss franc against the euro. you can see right here when they made that announcement it was falling off the cliff against the euro. the key question now is will this work and can the swiss national bank accordance? a chief economist has this. >> the issue is they could start printing money yesterday in perry and selling them in the market and buying primarily euros. about $26 billion last year. $13 billion loss at the first act of this year. it's a big burden to bear.

it's piling up its balance sheet with currencies that are depreciating against the swiss franc. can it sustain those sort of losses is the issue. will it work? i'm not so sure in the long run. more often than not they fail because fundamental sources pulling the economy higher are still there. >> let's take a quick look to the markets after that. the turbulent day yesterday. this is what aged did today. -- asia did. shares fell generally. u.s. treasuries droed the most in 60 years on tuesday. it's the same old fears raising their ugly head. worries over the euro zone debt crisis. european markets, a bit of bargain hunting going on. all eyes on wall street later on. >> thank you very much. that's just about it from us for the moment.

stay with us and bbc world news. there's plenty more to come, as ever. >> make sense of international news at bbc.com/news. >> funding was made possible by the freeman foundation of new york, stowe, vermont, and honolulu. newman's own foundation. and union bank. >> union bank has put its

global financial strength to work for a wide range of companies. what can we do for you? >> "bbc world news" was presented by kcet los angeles.