20120905
AP
BAMAKO, Mali (AP) — In some versions of a story published on Aug. 31 about the whipping of a man in northern Mali, The Associated Press erroneously reported that 30,000 people have fled the conflict in northern Mali.

The 30,000 figure is the number of people displaced from northern Mali to the region of Mopti. The total number of displaced is over 440,000 people, according to a U.N. agency.

Here is the corrected version of the story:

A man accused of rape in the Malian city of Timbuktu received 100 lashes on Friday morning, according to witnesses, as the radical Islamic group controlling the country's northern half continued their campaign of applying the extreme form of Islamic law known as Shariah.

The latest punishment comes on the heels of a visit to Mali by investigators from the International Criminal Court who are studying whether armed groups in the country have committed crimes against humanity.

The man who was whipped, identified as a Burkina Faso citizen named Boubacar El-Bourkinabiyoune, was brought into Timbuktu's public square on Friday morning, say witnesses. Islamists of the radical Ansar Dine group, which seized control of the city in April, explained that if the accused had been married, they would have stoned him to death, said resident Aboubacrine Yattara.

Contacted by telephone, a second witness Mohamed Toure confirmed that he had also seen the lashing.

Northern Mali fell into the hands of a mixture of Islamic groups in March and April, following a coup in the distant capital, Bamako, more than 700 miles away.

Over 440,000 people have fled the conflict in northern Mali and are desperately in need of food aid, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.

Valerie Amos, United Nations Under-Secretary and Emergency Relief Coordinator, spent two days visiting those affected by the conflict in Mali and said that people are desperately in need of food aid.

In addition to those who fled the north, she said there are 4.6 million people in the country who are affected by the current food shortages. She said the U.N. appealed for $213 million in relief aid, but less than half that amount has been provided.

"Without addition support, we are not going to reach everyone who needs help," said Amos.