** SHORT MENU....
GUINEA-BISSAU: ICRC ASSISTS DISPLACED PEOPLE: In spite of a peace agreement concluded by the parties to the conflict on 1 November, the humanitarian emergency in Guinea-Bissau is far from over.
AFGHANISTAN: ICRC RETURNS MORTAL REMAINS TO KABUL: At the request of the Taliban authorities and with the consent of Commander Massoud's forces, the ICRC transported four bodies from Bagram to Kabul on 30 October.
SRI LANKA: ICRC AND AUSTRIAN RED CROSS PROVIDE DRINKING WATER FOR 6,000 FAMILIES: Years of fighting between Sri Lankan government troops and the forces of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have drastically reduced the amount of drinking water available to the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities living on the east coast.
LIBERIA: ICRC HELPS RENOVATE POLICE CELLS: As part of its programme for detainees in Liberia, the ICRC has helped renovate the holding cells at Monrovia's police headquarters.
** STORIES IN FULL...
GUINEA-BISSAU ICRC ASSISTS DISPLACED PEOPLE
In spite of a peace agreement concluded by the parties to the conflict on 1 November, the humanitarian emergency in Guinea-Bissau is far from over. The accord put an end to the recent clashes, thus enabling the ICRC to resume its aid programme for the victims of the conflict. Today, 4 November, it is distributing basic necessities (mosquito nets, plastic sheeting, blankets, soap, cooking pots, jerricans and plastic buckets) to 2,000 families recently displaced in and around the towns of Prabis and Cumura. About 65% of the displaced in this area about 20 km west of Bissau are reported to be without shelter.
In its role as a neutral intermediary, on 28 October the ICRC evacuated 122 children and accompanying adults from a particularly hazardous area in Bissau to the Senegalese border post of Wassadou.
The ICRC has maintained five expatriates in Bafata and four in Bissau throughout the conflict.
Further information: Gerard Delechat, ICRC Dakar, tel. ++221 8 241 293
AFGHANISTAN ICRC RETURNS MORTAL REMAINS TO KABUL
At the request of the Taliban authorities and with the consent of Commander Massoud's forces, the ICRC transported four bodies from Bagram to Kabul on 30 October. The mortal remains were those of four members of the Taliban who had been held in the Panjshir valley and died in a road accident while being transferred by the detaining authorities. Several people were injured in the accident, and nine of them were visited by the ICRC.
The ICRC aircraft left Kabul for Bagram carrying a delegate and 1,350 kg of medicines and other medical supplies for the hospitals and clinics in the Panjshir valley and on the Shamali plain. When it returned to Kabul the ICRC handed the mortal remains over to the city's health authorities.
Further information: Juan Martinez, ICRC Kabul, tel. ++873 761 242 260 Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2224
SRI LANKA ICRC AND AUSTRIAN RED CROSS PROVIDE DRINKING WATER FOR 6,000 FAMILIES
Years of fighting between Sri Lankan government troops and the forces of the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam have drastically reduced the amount of drinking water available to the Sinhalese, Tamil and Muslim communities living on the east coast.
The first phase of a water supply project launched by the ICRC has now been completed with the help of the Austrian Red Cross. The 123,000 US dollar programme is aimed at restoring access to safe water for 6,000 families living in the conflict areas of Trincomalee, Batticaloa and Ampara Districts.
In view of the favourable impact of the project, the ICRC delegation in Sri Lanka plans to continue the work in 1999.
Further information: Harasha Gunawardene, ICRC Colombo, tel. ++941 503 346 Corinne Adam, ICRC Geneva, tel. ++4122 730 2224
LIBERIA ICRC HELPS RENOVATE POLICE CELLS
As part of its programme for detainees in Liberia, the ICRC has helped renovate the holding cells at Monrovia's police headquarters. Rehabilitation work on the sewage and electrical systems has now been completed, and the prisoners have received plywood, mattresses, blankets and buckets. The refurbished cells each have a capacity of 30 inmates.
"When we visited this place for the first time, the inmates were standing ankle-deep in a morass of water, dirt and excrement", said Simeon Antoulas, head of the ICRC delegation in Monrovia. During the 1990-1997 civil war, most Liberian detention facilities had been partially or totally destroyed. Since 1997, the ICRC has been providing the authorities with materials and expertise to restore basic hygiene conditions in the major detention centres in the capital and upcountry.
In addition, the Liberia National Red Cross Society, with assistance from the World Food Programme, the Food and Agricultural Organization and the ICRC, is supplying daily food rations for the approximately 400 inmates in Liberia's five main prisons.
In the wake of the violent clashes that broke out last September, the ICRC once again stresses the need for its delegates to extend their visits to all temporary detention facilities (police stations, military bases, and so forth) in the country, so as to be able to assess detention conditions and register remaining security detainees.
Further information: Simeon Antoulas, ICRC Monrovia, tel. ++231 22 63 06 Christian Frutiger, ICRC Abidjan, tel. ++225 22 24 60/61
During the weekend of 7 - 8 November 1998, for all information please call the press officer on duty Amanda Williamson, on (mobile) 41 79 357 15 24