hohasnok

Utredarna misstänker nu kidnappa och mörda ha ägt rum, sade stadens åklagare Xavier Ronsin att avisera hitta till reportrar.

Han tillade att paret och deras fyra barn hade hållit för sig själva.

Föräldrarna informeras nyligen en skola deras barn höll på att bort på grund av en plötslig flytta till Australien.

Det har inte ett spår av fadern, 50, eller mor, 49, eller deras barn i åldrarna 13, 16, 18 och 21, sedan början av april, sade Ronsin på torsdagen.

Register visar inget internet eller telefon kommunikation med huset i centrum av Nantes sedan den 3 eller 4 april, rapporterar AFP nyhetsbyrå.

Sedan upptäckten av benet under en terrass på huset, är utredningen "lutar åt kidnappning och mord", sade Ronsin.

Innan försvinnandet lämnade familjen "vandrings-och motsägelsefulla" meddelanden, sade de tog sina två yngre barn går i skolan eftersom de emigrerar till Australien.

"Fadern förklarade att han var en hemlig agent och lämnade som en del av ett vittnesskyddsprogram," åklagaren sa, citerar människor som känner den saknade mannen.

Inga spår av en kamp eller våld har ännu inte funnit i huset, där garderober har tömts, sade han.

Familjen bodde i en en-våningshus på en central boulevard i Nantes, med alla dess fönster slutare.

En anteckning cellotaped till brevlådan läser "Return all e-post till avsändaren".

En svart Golf bil, som grannar säga hör till mor, står parkerade i närheten.

Five of six men charged over a village council-sanctioned gang rape in Pakistan have been acquitted by the Supreme Court.

The court upheld the decision of a lower court, which included commuting the death penalty of the sixth man to life imprisonment.

The victim, Mukhataran Mai, hit world headlines after speaking out about her ordeal in 2002. She has since become an icon for women's rights in Pakistan.

She said she now feared for her life.

Mukhtaran Mai was her clear and unambiguous self when she spoke minutes after the verdict, the BBC's Shoaib Hasan in Pakistan said.

"The police never even recorded my own statements correctly," she said.

"I don't have any more faith in the courts. I have put my faith in God's judgement now. I don't know what the legal procedure is, but my faith [in the system] is gone.

"Yes, there is a threat to me and my family. There is a threat of death, and even of the same thing happening again. Anything can happen."

Ali Dayan Hasan of the US-based Human Rights Watch said the verdict sent a "very bad signal" across Pakistani society.

"It suggests women can be abused and even raped with impunity and those perpetrating such crimes can walk," he told the BBC.

The Supreme Court ordered the five men's immediate release - but it is not clear if they have been freed yet.

The court has yet to issue a detailed judgement. But the Lahore High Court - whose decision was upheld - had put the blame on a lack of evidence.

Our correspondent says many people say another review of the case is needed as it has had such a key impact on the rights of women in Pakistan.

Mukhtaran Mai was attacked on the orders of the powerful Mastoi clan as a punishment because her brother - 12 at the time - had allegedly been having an affair with a Mastoi woman. This, they said, had brought shame to the entire clan.

Libyan rebels have overrun a post on the Tunisian border in a rare advance against government troops in the west of the country, reports say.

The reported capture of the Wazin crossing follows intense fighting in the area.

Witnesses said dozens of Libyan soldiers had turned themselves over to the Tunisian military at the border.

The rebels control much of eastern Libya. Fighting is continuing in the besieged western city of Misrata.

UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has called on the Libyan authorities to "stop fighting and stop killing people".

Speaking during a visit to Moscow, he said the UN's priority was to bring about "a verifiable and effective ceasefire" to enable the expansion of humanitarian assistance and political dialogue.

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has condemned "vicious attacks" on Libyan civilians and said she was disturbed by the reported use of cluster bombs by government forces.

The Wazin border post lies on the main road linking the Libyan town of Nalut to Dehiba, in Tunisia.

Reports say the rebels seized the post on Thursday after up to 100 pro-Gaddafi soldiers fled to Tunisia.

Tunisia's state-run TAP news agency said an entire brigade had defected, including a brigadier-general and two majors.

Restrictions on journalists in remote areas of Libya mean it is hard to independently verify such reports.

"We see rebels who control the border crossing," one witness in Dehiba told Reuters news agency by phone.

Rebel leader Shaban Abu Sitta told the Associated Press the crossing had been taken after three days of intense battles with government soldiers outside Nalut.

The BBC's Jeremy Bowen in Tripoli says fighting has been going on for some time in the mountainous western region, but little information has emerged.

The area is home to Berber tribes who have long opposed Col Gaddafi, our correspondent says.

The reported capture of the border post could open up a new supply route for the rebel fighters.

But a doctor with Tunisia's Red Crescent said there was concern among officials it could also lead to a new wave of refugees into Tunisia.

"The main worry now is an influx of families fleeing the fighting," Dr Mongi Slim told AP.

"Before, when the post was under the control of the pro-Gaddafi forces, people had been crossing on little paths. But now it will be much easier."

Tens of thousands of people fled into Tunisia in the early stages of the fighting, creating a humanitarian crisis on the border.

Thursday morning also saw further fighting in Misrata. An opposition spokesman said mortar fire had killed three rebels there.

On Wednesday, two journalists died in a mortar attack in the city - Tim Hetherington, a British-American filmmaker and Chris Hondros, an American photographer.

Government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim said he was "very sad" about the deaths, but that warfare always involved casualties.

A Ukrainian doctor was also killed in a separate artillery blast in Misrata on Wednesday. The doctor's wife was reported to have been seriously injured in the incident.

Doctors in Misrata's hospital told the BBC they received more than 100 casualties on Wednesday, the vast majority of them civilians. The hospital said five civilians had been killed.

One doctor said he and his colleagues were exhausted and asked where the international community was.

The International Organization for Migration said a ship carrying 1,000 evacuated migrant workers and several injured Libyans - and the bodies of the two journalists - was due to arrive in Benghazi on Thursday evening.

Inspired by uprisings in neighbouring Tunisia and Egypt, Libyan rebels have been fighting Col Gaddafi's forces since February.

The rebels, based in Benghazi, hold much of the east, while Col Gaddafi remains in control of Tripoli and most of the west.

The rebel Transitional National Council rejected the government's latest offer of a ceasefire on Wednesday.

A spokesman for the council, Abdul Hafeez Ghoga, said Col Gaddafi wanted a ceasefire because his forces were being destroyed by Nato air strikes.

But government spokesman Moussa Ibrahim told the BBC on Thursday that Nato should trust its statements.

"Why don't they send us negotiators and decide upon a timeframe, a starting date for the ceasefire, and observe whether we keep our promise or not?" he said.

The foreign ministry has also warned of "consequences" to announcements by France, Italy and the UK that they are sending military advisers to Benghazi.

Meanwhile, Libya's Jana state TV has reported that Nato forces have captured a Libyan oil tanker, in what it described as "a barbaric piracy operation".

It gave no details on where or when the alleged incident took place.

Nato is enforcing a naval blockade of Libya, as part of the international effort to prevent arms and mercenaries from entering the country.