Island disappears out of the world's sight

The tiny South Pacific nation of Nauru is completely cut off from the outside world, its isolation so complete that no one knows who is running the country.

Nauru's telephone system collapsed in January, according to diplomats in New Zealand, who said they had been out of touch for weeks. Communication with the island, which has a population of 12,000, has been possible only when ships equipped with satellite telephones stop there. Its airline is about to be grounded because it cannot meet lease payments on its sole Boeing 737.

The President's official residence is reported to have burnt down last month, but who was occupying it at the time is not clear. When contact was last made, a power battle was raging between Rene Harris, the long-time president, and Bernard Dowiyogo, who deposed him in January with a parliamentary no- confidence vote. Mr Harris was reinstalled when a court declared the no-confidence vote invalid but – according to reports – he then stood down for reasons still unclear.

In a three-week-old Independence Day address, details of which have just been obtained by the international broadcaster Radio Australia, Mr Dowiyogo said the nation was "in a critical situation". He added: "People are hurting and have been hurting quite badly. We will need help and we will appeal to our friends to come to the rescue."

Workers had not been paid since last year and the eight-square-mile island was, in effect, broke, he said.

Nauru once had one of the world's highest per-capita incomes, thanks to its rich deposits of phosphate, but the proceeds were invested unwisely and the mines are virtually exhausted.