diff --git a/SConstruct b/SConstruct
index b9a3faf9c..bbeb231cf 100644
--- a/SConstruct
+++ b/SConstruct
@@ -39,8 +39,8 @@ opts.Add(PathOption('BOOST_LIBS', 'Search path for boost library files', '/usr/'
 opts.Add('BOOST_TOOLKIT','Specify boost toolkit e.g. gcc41.','',False)
 opts.Add(('FREETYPE_CONFIG', 'The path to the freetype-config executable.', 'freetype-config'))
 opts.Add(('XML2_CONFIG', 'The path to the xml2-config executable.', 'xml2-config'))
-opts.Add(PathOption('FRIBIDI_INCLUDES', 'Search path for fribidi include files', '/usr/include'))
-opts.Add(PathOption('FRIBIDI_LIBS','Search path for fribidi include files','/usr/' + LIBDIR_SCHEMA))
+opts.Add(PathOption('ICU_INCLUDES', 'Search path for ICU include files', '/usr/include'))
+opts.Add(PathOption('ICU_LIBS','Search path for ICU include files','/usr/' + LIBDIR_SCHEMA))
 opts.Add(PathOption('PNG_INCLUDES', 'Search path for libpng include files', '/usr/include'))
 opts.Add(PathOption('PNG_LIBS','Search path for libpng include files','/usr/' + LIBDIR_SCHEMA))
 opts.Add(PathOption('JPEG_INCLUDES', 'Search path for libjpeg include files', '/usr/include'))
@@ -58,7 +58,6 @@ opts.Add(ListOption('INPUT_PLUGINS','Input drivers to include','all',['postgis',
 opts.Add(ListOption('BINDINGS','Language bindings to build','all',['python']))
 opts.Add(BoolOption('DEBUG', 'Compile a debug version of mapnik', 'False'))
 opts.Add('DESTDIR', 'The root directory to install into. Useful mainly for binary package building', '/')
-opts.Add(BoolOption('BIDI', 'BIDI support', 'False'))
 opts.Add(EnumOption('THREADING','Set threading support','multi', ['multi','single']))
 opts.Add(EnumOption('XMLPARSER','Set xml parser ','tinyxml', ['tinyxml','spirit','libxml2']))
 
@@ -124,14 +123,8 @@ for prereq in ('BOOST', 'PNG', 'JPEG', 'TIFF', 'PGSQL', 'PROJ', 'GDAL',):
     uniq_add(env, 'LIBPATH', lib_path)
     
 env.ParseConfig(env['FREETYPE_CONFIG'] + ' --libs --cflags')
-
-if env['BIDI']:
-    env.Append(CXXFLAGS = '-DUSE_FRIBIDI')
-    if env['FRIBIDI_INCLUDES'] not in env['CPPPATH']:
-        env['CPPPATH'].append(env['FRIBIDI_INCLUDES'])
-    if env['FRIBIDI_LIBS'] not in env['LIBPATH']:
-        env['LIBPATH'].append(env['FRIBIDI_LIBS'])  
-    env['LIBS'].append('fribidi')
+   
+#env.ParseConfig('pkg-config --libs --cflags cairomm-1.0')
 
 if env['XMLPARSER'] == 'tinyxml':
     env.Append(CXXFLAGS = '-DBOOST_PROPERTY_TREE_XML_PARSER_TINYXML -DTIXML_USE_STL')
@@ -147,16 +140,15 @@ C_LIBSHEADERS = [
     ['z', 'zlib.h', True],
     ['jpeg', ['stdio.h', 'jpeglib.h'], True],
     ['proj', 'proj_api.h', True],
-    ['iconv', 'iconv.h', False],
     ['pq', 'libpq-fe.h', False]
 ]
 
 CXX_LIBSHEADERS = [
+    ['icuuc','unicode/unistr.h',True],
+    ['icudata','unicode/utypes.h' , True],
     ['gdal', 'gdal_priv.h',False]
 ]
 
-if env['BIDI'] : C_LIBSHEADERS.append(['fribidi','fribidi/fribidi.h',True])
-
 BOOST_LIBSHEADERS = [
     # ['system', 'boost/system/system_error.hpp', True], # uncomment this on Darwin + boost_1_35
     ['filesystem', 'boost/filesystem/operations.hpp', True],
diff --git a/bindings/python/SConscript b/bindings/python/SConscript
index bfd53a9c5..3a8db238e 100644
--- a/bindings/python/SConscript
+++ b/bindings/python/SConscript
@@ -41,6 +41,8 @@ else :
     libraries.append('boost_python%s' % env['BOOST_APPEND'])
 
 if env['PLATFORM'] == 'Darwin':
+    libraries.append('icuuc')
+    libraries.append('icudata')
     if env['THREADING'] == 'multi':
         libraries.append('boost_regex%s%s' % (env['BOOST_APPEND'],thread_suffix))
     else :
diff --git a/bindings/python/mapnik/ogcserver/common.py b/bindings/python/mapnik/ogcserver/common.py
index b205fa2e6..739b52f12 100644
--- a/bindings/python/mapnik/ogcserver/common.py
+++ b/bindings/python/mapnik/ogcserver/common.py
@@ -283,11 +283,7 @@ class WMSBaseServiceHandler(BaseServiceHandler):
         m = self._buildMap(params)
         im = Image(params['width'], params['height'])
         render(m, im)
-        im = fromstring('RGBA', (params['width'], params['height']), rawdata(im))
-        fh = StringIO()
-        im.save(fh, PIL_TYPE_MAPPING[params['format']], quality=100)
-        fh.seek(0)
-        return Response(params['format'], fh.read())
+        return Response(params['format'], im.tostring(params['format'])
 
     def GetFeatureInfo(self, params, querymethodname='query_point'):
         m = self._buildMap(params)
@@ -460,4 +456,4 @@ class XMLFeatureInfo:
         self.currentfeature.append(attribute)
     
     def __str__(self):
-        return '<?xml version="1.0"?>\n' + ElementTree.tostring(self.rootelement)
\ No newline at end of file
+        return '<?xml version="1.0"?>\n' + ElementTree.tostring(self.rootelement)
diff --git a/bindings/python/mapnik_feature.cpp b/bindings/python/mapnik_feature.cpp
index 015982b67..2bf7e78cb 100644
--- a/bindings/python/mapnik_feature.cpp
+++ b/bindings/python/mapnik_feature.cpp
@@ -43,9 +43,9 @@ namespace boost { namespace python {
                return ::PyFloat_FromDouble(val);
             }
             
-            PyObject * operator() (std::wstring const& s) const
+            PyObject * operator() (UnicodeString const& s) const
             {
-               return ::PyUnicode_FromWideChar(s.data(),implicit_cast<ssize_t>(s.size()));
+               return ::PyUnicode_FromWideChar((wchar_t*)s.getBuffer(),implicit_cast<ssize_t>(s.length()));
             }
       };
       
diff --git a/include/mapnik/expression.hpp b/include/mapnik/expression.hpp
index 887296a6c..05f830603 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/expression.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/expression.hpp
@@ -51,7 +51,7 @@ namespace mapnik {
         literal(double val)
             : expression<FeatureT>(),
               value_(val) {}
-        literal(std::wstring const& val)
+        literal(UnicodeString const& val)
             : expression<FeatureT>(),
               value_(val) {}
         literal(literal const& other)
diff --git a/include/mapnik/filter_parser.hpp b/include/mapnik/filter_parser.hpp
index 3c6baff1f..0d9ec0be8 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/filter_parser.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/filter_parser.hpp
@@ -91,16 +91,17 @@ namespace mapnik
         template <typename Iter>
         void operator() (Iter start,Iter end) const
         {
-            std::wstring str(start,end);
-            std::wstring quote = L"\\";
-            std::wstring::size_type idx;
-            idx = str.find(quote);
-            while (idx != string::npos)
-            {	    		
-                str.erase(idx,1);
-                idx = str.find(quote);
-            }
-            exprs_.push(shared_ptr<expression<FeatureT> >(new literal<FeatureT>(str)));
+           //std::wstring str(start,end);
+           //std::wstring quote = L"\\";
+           //std::wstring::size_type idx;
+           //idx = str.find(quote);
+           //while (idx != string::npos)
+           ///{	    		
+           //   str.erase(idx,1);
+           //    idx = str.find(quote);
+           //}
+           UnicodeString str(start,end-start);
+           exprs_.push(shared_ptr<expression<FeatureT> >(new literal<FeatureT>(str)));
         }
         stack<shared_ptr<expression<FeatureT> > >& exprs_;
     };
diff --git a/include/mapnik/font_engine_freetype.hpp b/include/mapnik/font_engine_freetype.hpp
index a62c7678c..71371cbdc 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/font_engine_freetype.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/font_engine_freetype.hpp
@@ -52,6 +52,10 @@ extern "C"
 #include <map>
 #include <iostream>
 
+// icu
+#include <unicode/ubidi.h>
+#include <unicode/ushape.h>
+
 namespace mapnik
 {
     class font_face : boost::noncopyable
@@ -84,7 +88,12 @@ namespace mapnik
         {
             return face_;
         }
-	
+		
+        unsigned get_char(unsigned c) const
+        {
+            return FT_Get_Char_Index(face_, c);
+        }
+
         bool set_pixel_sizes(unsigned size)
         {
             if (! FT_Set_Pixel_Sizes( face_, 0, size ))
@@ -311,19 +320,75 @@ namespace mapnik
           {
              unsigned width = 0;
              unsigned height = 0;
+             UErrorCode err = U_ZERO_ERROR;
+             UnicodeString const& ustr = info.get_string();
+             const UChar * text = ustr.getBuffer();
+             UBiDi * bidi = ubidi_openSized(ustr.length(),0,&err);
              
-             std::wstring const& text = info.get_string();
-            
-             for (std::wstring::const_iterator i=text.begin();i!=text.end();++i)
+             if (U_SUCCESS(err))
              {
-                dimension_t char_dim = character_dimensions(*i);
-                
-                info.add_info(*i, char_dim.first, char_dim.second);
-                
-                width += char_dim.first;
-                height = char_dim.second > height ? char_dim.second : height;
+                ubidi_setPara(bidi,text,ustr.length(), UBIDI_DEFAULT_LTR,0,&err);
                 
+                if (U_SUCCESS(err))
+                {
+                   int32_t count = ubidi_countRuns(bidi,&err);
+                   int32_t logicalStart;
+                   int32_t length;
+                   
+                   for (int32_t i=0; i< count;++i)
+                   {
+                      if (UBIDI_LTR == ubidi_getVisualRun(bidi,i,&logicalStart,&length))
+                      {
+                         do {
+                            UChar ch = text[logicalStart++];
+                            dimension_t char_dim = character_dimensions(ch);
+                            info.add_info(ch, char_dim.first, char_dim.second);
+                            width += char_dim.first;
+                            height = char_dim.second > height ? char_dim.second : height;
+                            
+                         } while (--length > 0);
+                      }
+                      else
+                      {
+                         logicalStart += length;
+                         
+                         int32_t j=0,i=length;
+                         UnicodeString arabic;
+                         UChar * buf = arabic.getBuffer(length);
+                         do {
+                            UChar ch = text[--logicalStart];
+                            buf[j++] = ch;
+                         } while (--i > 0);
+                         
+                         arabic.releaseBuffer(length);
+                         if ( *arabic.getBuffer() >= 0x0600 && *arabic.getBuffer() <= 0x06ff)
+                         {
+                            
+                            UnicodeString shaped;
+                            u_shapeArabic(arabic.getBuffer(),arabic.length(),shaped.getBuffer(arabic.length()),arabic.length(),
+                                          U_SHAPE_LETTERS_SHAPE|U_SHAPE_LENGTH_FIXED_SPACES_NEAR|
+                                          U_SHAPE_TEXT_DIRECTION_VISUAL_LTR
+                                          ,&err);
+                            
+                            shaped.releaseBuffer(arabic.length());
+                            
+                            if (U_SUCCESS(err))
+                            {                  
+                               for (int j=0;j<shaped.length();++j)
+                               {
+                                  dimension_t char_dim = character_dimensions(shaped[j]);
+                                  info.add_info(shaped[j], char_dim.first, char_dim.second);
+                                  width += char_dim.first;
+                                  height = char_dim.second > height ? char_dim.second : height;
+                               }
+                            }
+                         }
+                      }
+                   }
+                }
+                ubidi_close(bidi);
              }
+             
              info.set_dimensions(width, height);
           }
           
diff --git a/include/mapnik/label_collision_detector.hpp b/include/mapnik/label_collision_detector.hpp
index 1352f8588..7563d9455 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/label_collision_detector.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/label_collision_detector.hpp
@@ -28,6 +28,7 @@
 #include <mapnik/quad_tree.hpp>
 // stl
 #include <vector>
+#include <unicode/unistr.h>
 
 namespace mapnik
 {
@@ -139,10 +140,10 @@ namespace mapnik
          struct label
          {
                label(Envelope<double> const& b) : box(b) {}
-               label(Envelope<double> const& b, std::wstring const& t) : box(b), text(t) {}
+               label(Envelope<double> const& b, UnicodeString const& t) : box(b), text(t) {}
                
                Envelope<double> box;
-               std::wstring text;
+               UnicodeString text;
          };
          
          typedef quad_tree< label > tree_t;
@@ -171,7 +172,7 @@ namespace mapnik
             return true;
         }	
 
-        bool has_placement(Envelope<double> const& box, std::wstring const& text, double distance)
+        bool has_placement(Envelope<double> const& box, UnicodeString const& text, double distance)
         {
             Envelope<double> bigger_box(box.minx() - distance, box.miny() - distance, box.maxx() + distance, box.maxy() + distance);
 	    
@@ -195,7 +196,7 @@ namespace mapnik
             tree_.insert(label(box), box);
          }
          
-         void insert(Envelope<double> const& box, std::wstring const& text)
+         void insert(Envelope<double> const& box, UnicodeString const& text)
          {
             tree_.insert(label(box, text), box);
          }
diff --git a/include/mapnik/text_path.hpp b/include/mapnik/text_path.hpp
index c0f0cebaf..94b25639d 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/text_path.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/text_path.hpp
@@ -27,6 +27,7 @@
 #define __TEXT_PATH_H__
 
 #include <boost/utility.hpp>
+#include <unicode/unistr.h>
 
 namespace mapnik
 {
@@ -51,11 +52,11 @@ namespace mapnik
       protected:
          typedef boost::ptr_vector<character_info> characters_t;
          characters_t characters_;
-         std::wstring const& text_;
+         UnicodeString const& text_;
          double width_;
          double height_;
       public:
-         string_info(std::wstring const& text)
+         string_info(UnicodeString const& text)
             : text_(text),
               width_(0),
               height_(0) {}
@@ -91,7 +92,7 @@ namespace mapnik
             return std::pair<double, double>(width_, height_);
          }
 
-         std::wstring const&  get_string() const 
+         UnicodeString const&  get_string() const 
          {
            return text_;
          }
diff --git a/include/mapnik/unicode.hpp b/include/mapnik/unicode.hpp
index 70f2b6a4b..7ed17a5c6 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/unicode.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/unicode.hpp
@@ -24,9 +24,8 @@
 #ifndef UNICODE_HPP
 #define UNICODE_HPP
 
-extern "C" {
-#include <iconv.h>
-}
+#include <unicode/unistr.h>
+#include <unicode/ucnv.h>
 
 #include <boost/utility.hpp>
 
@@ -35,10 +34,11 @@ namespace mapnik {
    {
       public:
          explicit transcoder (std::string const& encoding);
-         std::wstring transcode(std::string const& input) const;  
+         UnicodeString transcode(const char* data) const;  
          ~transcoder(); 
       private:
-         iconv_t desc_;
+         bool ok_;
+         UConverter * conv_;
    };
 }
 
diff --git a/include/mapnik/value.hpp b/include/mapnik/value.hpp
index e5d9f669b..b4939a94d 100644
--- a/include/mapnik/value.hpp
+++ b/include/mapnik/value.hpp
@@ -33,10 +33,12 @@
 #include <string>
 #include <sstream>
 #include <iomanip>
+// uci
+#include <unicode/unistr.h>
 
 namespace mapnik  {
    
-   typedef boost::variant<int,double,std::wstring> value_base;
+   typedef boost::variant<int,double,UnicodeString> value_base;
    
    namespace impl {
       struct equals
@@ -64,8 +66,8 @@ namespace mapnik  {
 	       return  lhs == rhs;
 	    }
 	
-            bool operator() (std::wstring const& lhs, 
-                             std::wstring const& rhs) const
+            bool operator() (UnicodeString const& lhs, 
+                             UnicodeString const& rhs) const
 	    {
 	       return  lhs == rhs;
 	    }
@@ -96,7 +98,7 @@ namespace mapnik  {
 	       return  lhs > rhs;
 	    }
 	
-            bool operator() (std::wstring const& lhs, std::wstring const& rhs) const
+            bool operator() (UnicodeString const& lhs, UnicodeString const& rhs) const
 	    {
 	       return  lhs > rhs;
 	    }
@@ -127,7 +129,7 @@ namespace mapnik  {
 	       return  lhs >= rhs;
 	    }
 	
-            bool operator() (std::wstring const& lhs, std::wstring const& rhs ) const
+            bool operator() (UnicodeString const& lhs, UnicodeString const& rhs ) const
 	    {
 	       return lhs >= rhs;
 	    }
@@ -158,8 +160,8 @@ namespace mapnik  {
 	       return  lhs < rhs;
 	    }
 	
-            bool operator()( std::wstring const& lhs, 
-                             std::wstring const& rhs ) const
+            bool operator()( UnicodeString const& lhs, 
+                             UnicodeString const& rhs ) const
 	    {
 	       return lhs < rhs;
 	    }
@@ -191,8 +193,8 @@ namespace mapnik  {
 	    }
 	
             template <typename T>
-            bool operator()( std::wstring const& lhs, 
-                             std::wstring const& rhs ) const
+            bool operator()( UnicodeString const& lhs, 
+                             UnicodeString const& rhs ) const
 	    {
 	       return lhs <= rhs;
 	    }
@@ -213,8 +215,8 @@ namespace mapnik  {
 	       return lhs + rhs ;
 	    }
 	
-            value_type operator() (std::wstring const& lhs , 
-                                   std::wstring const& rhs ) const
+            value_type operator() (UnicodeString const& lhs , 
+                                   UnicodeString const& rhs ) const
 	    {
 	       return lhs + rhs;
 	    }
@@ -245,8 +247,8 @@ namespace mapnik  {
 	       return lhs - rhs ;
 	    }
 
-            value_type operator() (std::wstring const& lhs,
-                                   std::wstring const& ) const
+            value_type operator() (UnicodeString const& lhs,
+                                   UnicodeString const& ) const
 	    {
 	       return lhs;
 	    }
@@ -277,8 +279,8 @@ namespace mapnik  {
 	       return lhs * rhs;
 	    }
 	
-            value_type operator() (std::wstring const& lhs,
-                                   std::wstring const& ) const
+            value_type operator() (UnicodeString const& lhs,
+                                   UnicodeString const& ) const
 	    {
 	       return lhs;
 	    }	
@@ -310,8 +312,8 @@ namespace mapnik  {
 	       return lhs / rhs;
 	    }
 	
-            value_type operator() (std::wstring const& lhs,
-                                   std::wstring const&) const
+            value_type operator() (UnicodeString const& lhs,
+                                   UnicodeString const&) const
 	    {
 	       return lhs;
 	    }
@@ -338,27 +340,28 @@ namespace mapnik  {
 	       return ss.str();
 	    }
             // specializations 
-            std::string operator() (std::wstring const& val) const
+            std::string operator() (UnicodeString const& val) const
 	    {
-               std::stringstream ss;
-               std::wstring::const_iterator pos = val.begin();
-               ss << std::hex ;
-               for (;pos!=val.end();++pos)
-               {
-                  wchar_t c = *pos;
-                  if (c < 0x80) 
-                  {
-                     ss << char(c);
-                  }
-                  else
-                  {
-                     ss << "\\x";
-                     unsigned c0 = (c >> 8) & 0xff;
-                     if (c0) ss << c0;
-                     ss << (c & 0xff);
-                  }
-               }
-	       return ss.str();
+               //std::stringstream ss;
+               //std::wstring::const_iterator pos = val.begin();
+               //ss << std::hex ;
+               //for (;pos!=val.end();++pos)
+               //{
+               //  wchar_t c = *pos;
+               //  if (c < 0x80) 
+               //  {
+               //     ss << char(c);
+               //  }
+               //  else
+               //  {
+               //     ss << "\\x";
+               //     unsigned c0 = (c >> 8) & 0xff;
+               //     if (c0) ss << c0;
+               //     ss << (c & 0xff);
+               //  }
+               //}
+	       //return ss.str();
+               return "TODO";
 	    }
             
             std::string operator() (double val) const
@@ -369,37 +372,38 @@ namespace mapnik  {
             }
       };
 
-      struct to_unicode : public boost::static_visitor<std::wstring>
+      struct to_unicode : public boost::static_visitor<UnicodeString>
       {
                 
             template <typename T>
-            std::wstring operator() (T val) const
+            UnicodeString operator() (T val) const
 	    {
-               std::basic_ostringstream<wchar_t> out;
+               std::basic_ostringstream<char> out;
 	       out << val;
-               return out.str();
+               return UnicodeString(out.str().c_str());
 	    }
 
             // specializations 
-            std::wstring const& operator() (std::wstring const& val) const
+            UnicodeString const& operator() (UnicodeString const& val) const
 	    {
                return val;
 	    }
 
-            std::wstring operator() (double val) const
+            UnicodeString operator() (double val) const
             {
-               std::basic_ostringstream<wchar_t> out;
+               std::basic_ostringstream<char> out;
 	       out << std::setprecision(16) << val;
-	       return out.str();
+               return UnicodeString(out.str().c_str());
             }
       };
       
       struct to_expression_string : public boost::static_visitor<std::string>
       {
-            std::string operator() (std::wstring const& val) const
+            std::string operator() (UnicodeString const& val) const
 	    {
+               /*
                std::stringstream ss;
-               std::wstring::const_iterator pos = val.begin();
+               UnicodeString::const_iterator pos = val.begin();
                ss << std::hex ;
                for (;pos!=val.end();++pos)
                {
@@ -417,6 +421,8 @@ namespace mapnik  {
                   }
                }
 	       return "\'" + ss.str() + "\'";
+               */
+               return "TODO";
 	    } 
             
             template <typename T>
@@ -496,7 +502,7 @@ namespace mapnik  {
 	    return boost::apply_visitor(impl::to_string(),base_);
 	 }
          
-         std::wstring to_unicode() const
+         UnicodeString to_unicode() const
          {
             return boost::apply_visitor(impl::to_unicode(),base_);
          }
diff --git a/plugins/input/gdal/SConscript b/plugins/input/gdal/SConscript
index 9888fc3b4..e063a2479 100644
--- a/plugins/input/gdal/SConscript
+++ b/plugins/input/gdal/SConscript
@@ -34,8 +34,8 @@ gdal_src = Split(
 libraries = ['gdal' ]
 if env['PLATFORM'] == 'Darwin':
     libraries.append('mapnik')
-    libraries.append('iconv') 
-    if env['BIDI'] : libraries.append('fribidi')
+    libraries.append('icuuc')
+    libraries.append('icudata')
 
 gdal_inputdriver = env.SharedLibrary('gdal', source=gdal_src, SHLIBPREFIX='', SHLIBSUFFIX='.input', LIBS=libraries)
 
diff --git a/plugins/input/postgis/SConscript b/plugins/input/postgis/SConscript
index be4bc3426..a0d1967c0 100644
--- a/plugins/input/postgis/SConscript
+++ b/plugins/input/postgis/SConscript
@@ -35,8 +35,8 @@ libraries = ['pq']
 
 if env['PLATFORM'] == 'Darwin':
     libraries.append('mapnik')
-    libraries.append('iconv')
-    if env['BIDI'] : libraries.append('fribidi')
+    libraries.append('icuuc')
+    libraries.append('icudata')
     if env['THREADING'] == 'multi':
         libraries.append('boost_thread%s-mt' % env['BOOST_APPEND'])
 
diff --git a/plugins/input/postgis/postgisfs.cpp b/plugins/input/postgis/postgisfs.cpp
index d25c137d6..d6a88db7e 100644
--- a/plugins/input/postgis/postgisfs.cpp
+++ b/plugins/input/postgis/postgisfs.cpp
@@ -132,10 +132,11 @@ feature_ptr postgis_featureset::next()
            }
            else if (oid==25 || oid==1042 || oid==1043) // text or bpchar or varchar
            {
-              std::string str(buf);
-              trim(str);
-              std::wstring wstr = tr_->transcode(str);
-              boost::put(*feature,name,wstr);
+              //std::string str(buf);
+              //trim(str);
+              //std::wstring wstr = tr_->transcode(str);
+              UnicodeString ustr = tr_->transcode(buf);
+              boost::put(*feature,name,ustr);
            }
            else if (oid == 1700) // numeric
            {
diff --git a/plugins/input/raster/SConscript b/plugins/input/raster/SConscript
index edfe47f80..3143a12e4 100644
--- a/plugins/input/raster/SConscript
+++ b/plugins/input/raster/SConscript
@@ -35,6 +35,8 @@ raster_src = Split(
 libraries = []
 if env['PLATFORM'] == 'Darwin':
     libraries.append('mapnik')
+    libraries.append('icuuc')
+    libraries.append('icudata')
 
 raster_inputdriver = env.SharedLibrary('raster', source=raster_src, SHLIBPREFIX='', SHLIBSUFFIX='.input', LIBS=libraries)
 
diff --git a/plugins/input/shape/SConscript b/plugins/input/shape/SConscript
index 68f924d28..005201eef 100644
--- a/plugins/input/shape/SConscript
+++ b/plugins/input/shape/SConscript
@@ -1,4 +1,4 @@
-#
+	
 # This file is part of Mapnik (c++ mapping toolkit)
 #
 # Copyright (C) 2006 Artem Pavlenko, Jean-Francois Doyon
@@ -46,9 +46,8 @@ else:
     
 if env['PLATFORM'] == 'Darwin':
     libraries.append('mapnik')
-    libraries.append('iconv')
-    if env['BIDI'] : libraries.append('fribidi')
-
+    libraries.append('icuuc')
+    libraries.append('icudata')
 
 shape_inputdriver = env.SharedLibrary('shape', SHLIBSUFFIX='.input', source=shape_src, SHLIBPREFIX='', LIBS = libraries)
 
diff --git a/plugins/input/shape/dbffile.cpp b/plugins/input/shape/dbffile.cpp
index 98e126099..dbaa4080b 100644
--- a/plugins/input/shape/dbffile.cpp
+++ b/plugins/input/shape/dbffile.cpp
@@ -113,8 +113,9 @@ void dbf_file::add_attribute(int col, mapnik::transcoder const& tr, Feature cons
    if (col>=0 && col<num_fields_)
    {
       std::string name=fields_[col].name_;
-      std::string str=boost::trim_copy(std::string(record_+fields_[col].offset_,fields_[col].length_));
-        
+      std::string str(record_+fields_[col].offset_,fields_[col].length_);
+      boost::trim(str);
+      
       switch (fields_[col].type_)
       {
          case 'C':
@@ -122,7 +123,7 @@ void dbf_file::add_attribute(int col, mapnik::transcoder const& tr, Feature cons
          case 'M':
          case 'L':
          {
-            f[name] = tr.transcode(str); 
+            f[name] = tr.transcode(str.c_str()); 
             break;
          }
          case 'N':
diff --git a/src/SConscript b/src/SConscript
index b1b0133b6..7086f046b 100644
--- a/src/SConscript
+++ b/src/SConscript
@@ -78,6 +78,8 @@ source = Split(
     """
     )
 
+#source.append("cairo_renderer.cpp")
+
 if env['XMLPARSER'] == 'tinyxml':
     source += Split(
         """
diff --git a/src/agg_renderer.cpp b/src/agg_renderer.cpp
index 59b1722e2..f54647fb7 100644
--- a/src/agg_renderer.cpp
+++ b/src/agg_renderer.cpp
@@ -456,7 +456,7 @@ namespace mapnik
                                   proj_transform const& prj_trans)
    {
       typedef  coord_transform2<CoordTransform,geometry2d> path_type;
-      std::wstring text = feature[sym.get_name()].to_unicode();
+      UnicodeString text = feature[sym.get_name()].to_unicode();
       boost::shared_ptr<ImageData32> const& data = sym.get_image();
       if (text.length() > 0 && data)
       {
@@ -666,7 +666,7 @@ namespace mapnik
    {
       typedef  coord_transform2<CoordTransform,geometry2d> path_type;
       
-      std::wstring text = feature[sym.get_name()].to_unicode();
+      UnicodeString text = feature[sym.get_name()].to_unicode();
       if ( text.length() > 0 )
       {
          Color const& fill  = sym.get_fill();
diff --git a/src/unicode.cpp b/src/unicode.cpp
index 592203d62..bfaea9e8c 100644
--- a/src/unicode.cpp
+++ b/src/unicode.cpp
@@ -76,7 +76,7 @@ namespace mapnik {
     }
 #endif
 
-
+/*
     inline std::wstring to_unicode(std::string const& text)
     {
         std::wstring out;
@@ -159,22 +159,39 @@ namespace mapnik {
       return out;
    }
    
-
+*/
    transcoder::transcoder (std::string const& encoding)
+      : ok_(false),
+        conv_(0)
    {
 #ifdef MAPNIK_DEBUG
       std::cerr << "ENCODING = " << encoding << "\n"; 
 #endif
       
-#ifndef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
-      desc_ = iconv_open("UCS-4LE",encoding.c_str());
-#else
-      desc_ = iconv_open("UCS-4BE",encoding.c_str());
-#endif
+//#ifndef WORDS_BIGENDIAN
+         //     desc_ = iconv_open("UCS-4LE",encoding.c_str());
+//#else
+         //     desc_ = iconv_open("UCS-4BE",encoding.c_str());
+//#endif
+      
+      UErrorCode err = U_ZERO_ERROR;
+      conv_ = ucnv_open(encoding.c_str(),&err);
+      if (U_SUCCESS(err)) ok_ = true;
+      // TODO
    }
    
-   std::wstring transcoder::transcode(std::string const& input) const
+   UnicodeString transcoder::transcode(const char* data) const
    {
+
+      UErrorCode err = U_ZERO_ERROR;
+      
+      UnicodeString ustr(data,-1,conv_,err); 
+      if (ustr.isBogus())
+      {
+         ustr.remove();
+      }
+      return ustr;
+/*
       if (desc_ == iconv_t(-1)) return to_unicode(input); 
       size_t inleft = input.size();
       std::wstring output(inleft,0);
@@ -196,10 +213,13 @@ namespace mapnik {
       }
 #endif
       return output;
+*/
    }
    
    transcoder::~transcoder()
    {
-      if (desc_ != iconv_t(-1)) iconv_close(desc_);
+      // if (desc_ != iconv_t(-1)) iconv_close(desc_);
+      if (conv_)
+         ucnv_close(conv_);
    }   
 }