U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa Tel: +225 22-40-4440 Fax: +225 22-40-4435 e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ciWEST AFRICA IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 18 29 April - 5 May 2000
CONTENTS: SIERRA LEONE: Rebels detain 318 in week of attacks against UNAMSIL SIERRA LEONE: Wave of condemnations follow attacks, killings SIERRA LEONE: Insecurity threatens immunization of children SIERRA LEONE: ACF suspends its operations in Makeni LIBERIA: Army restructuring begins LIBERIA: Refugees return from Cote d'Ivoire GUINEA: Trial of opposition leader adjourned GUINEA: Legislative elections in June GUINEA-BISSAU: New political party formed NIGERIA: Government raises minimum wage NIGERIA: Thousands pray for water NIGERIA: Government to invest in forests, against desertification NIGERIA: Bakassi beseiged by the Atlantic NIGERIA: Northern states shelve Sharia NIGERIA: Phone line charges slashed GHANA: Ruling party chooses its presidential candidate SENEGAL: More attacks in Casamance SENEGAL: Wade wants direct talks with Casamance separatists MAURITANIA: Opposition leader released EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Health agreement signed with Cuba CAMEROON: UN Secretary-General stresses dialogue SAO TOME/PRINCIPE: IMF Approves US $9.0 Million Loan HEALTH: OAU ministers to meet on HIV/AIDS WEST AFRICA: Working out ways to save war-affected children WESTERN SAHARA: Kofi Annan invites parties to meet in London AFRICA: Angola objects to Togo hosting OAU summit SIERRA LEONE: Rebels detain 318 in week of attacks against UNAMSIL Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels on Friday released a UN helicopter, its four-man crew and two civilian passengers, Fred Eckhard, spokesman of the UN Secretary-General, told journalists in New York on Friday. He said, however, that the number of UN personnel detained by the rebels during a week of attacks by the RUF against UN Assistance Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) peacekeepers continued to climb. "The latest estimates could be as high as 318," he said. Four Kenyan peacekeepers were killed in this week's clashes while 12 other people have been reported wounded, Eckhard said. There were no reports of fighting on Friday but, according to Eckhard, 13 armoured personnel carriers have been taken by the RUF. He said there were unconfirmed reports that the rebels were on the move, but he had no specific information on their location or destination. SIERRA LEONE: Wave of condemnations follow attacks, killings The Commonwealth, US State Department and United Nations, among others, have strongly condemned the killing and detention by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) of UN peacekeepers in Sierra Leone. Commonwealth Secretary-General Don McKinnon on Thursday said these acts were "a heinous crime" and "a serious breach by the RUF of the Lome Peace Agreement". US State Department spokesman Richard Boucher said they could nullify an amnesty that RUF leader Foday Sankoh and his men were awarded under the Lome agreement, AFP reported. The UN Security Council on Thursday expressed its "outrage" at the killing of the peacekeepers (four were killed) "and its deep concern for the UNAMSIL troops who have been wounded or remain unaccounted for" and said it believed Sankoh must be held accountable. SIERRA LEONE: Insecurity threatens immunization of children UNICEF said in a news release on Thursday that it deplored the breakdown of peace in Sierra Leone which, "is particularly tragic for the children of Sierra Leone, who have already suffered enough during nine years of civil war". The new insecurity, UNICEF said, jeopardises the third round of an immunisation drive that began last year following the July Lome peace agreement and which was programmed for 20-21 May. "This round is particularly crucial as it also includes distribution of vitamin A supplements, a life-saving intervention for children weakened by chronic malnutrition," the UN agency pointed out. "Unless key areas of the country can be reached, the entire purpose of the polio eradication effort in Sierra Leone will be defeated, seriously violating the rights of children there," it said. SIERRA LEONE: ACF suspends its operations in Makeni The international NGO Action contre la Faim (ACF) said on Thursday it was postponing its operations in Makeni area following the recent deterioration in the security situation there. "ACF has the intention to resume operations when the situation improves," ACF's Marc Gordon told IRIN. Other relief NGOs have reportedly also suspended their operations in the areas affected by the insecurity. LIBERIA: Army restructuring begins The first phase of the restructuring of the Liberian army began on Monday as officers responsible for determining its current strength began their training, news organisations reported. The Liberian News Agency reported the chairman of the armed forces restructuring commission, Blamo Nelson, as saying that the ongoing restructuring exercise would include four phases, re-documentation, demobilisation, retirement and recruitment, aimed at establishing "a small, effective and efficient army". LIBERIA: Refugees return from Cote d'Ivoire Several hundred refugees have returned to Liberia this week from three regions in Cote d'Ivoire, UNHCR officials told IRIN on Friday. On Wednesday a UNHCR-assisted convoy of 322 returnees crossed the border from Toulepleu in the southwest of Cote d'Ivoire into Liberia and on the same day some 250 refugees travelled from Guiglo to Grand Gedeh County (southeastern Liberia). The day before, a group of 194 from Tabou, southwestern Cote d'Ivoire, made the first ferry trip across the Cavalli River into Liberia on Tuesday. The total number of Liberian returnees from Cote d'Ivoire since 1 January now stands at 2,620, UNHCR said. GUINEA: Trial of opposition leader adjourned The trial of Rassemblement du Peuple de Guinee (RPG) leader Alpha Conde and 47 other Guinean opposition members accused of crimes including threatening state security was adjourned indefinitely on Tuesday after they refused to be defended by lawyers assigned by the state following the withdrawal of their attorneys. The defence team decided last week to pull out of the case, saying that they were not given a chance to prepare it properly. GUINEA: Legislative elections in June Legislative and municipal elections in Guinea, originally scheduled for June 1999 but twice postponed, have now been set for 25 June, AFP reported. The country's parliament has 114 seats, 71 of which belong to the ruling Parti de l'unite et du progres (PUP), 39 to the Coordination de l'opposition democratiques (CODEM), an opposition coalition, and the rest to parties allied to the PUP, according to AFP. GUINEA-BISSAU: New political party formed A former independent presidential candidate in Bissau has set up a new political party, the Alianca socialista da Guine (ASG-Socialist Alliance of Guinea-Bissau), news organisations reported. Fernando Gomes, who also headed Guinea-Bissau's human rights league, told the press that the ASG, formally recognised on Thursday as the country's 15th political party, would be a force of "constructive opposition," according to AFP. NIGERIA: Government raises minimum wage Nigeria's government has raised the national minimum wage from 250 naira (around US $2.5) to 5,500 naira (about US $55) per month as of May, news organisations on Tuesday reported President Olusegun Obasanjo as announcing on Monday. He also announced that the minimum monthly wage for federal employees such as civil servants and police had been increased to 7,500 naira, up from 3,500, according to 'The Guardian' daily. The amounts include gross salaries as well as fringe benefits. NIGERIA: Thousands pray for water About 3,000 disabled people prayed for divine intervention to save them from an acute water shortage in the northeast Nigerian state of Borno, 'The Guardian' reported on Monday. For the past three months, the arid state, which borders on northern Cameroon and Chad, has been suffering from an acute water shortage that has led water vendors to hike their prices. NIGERIA: Government to invest in forests, against desertification Nigeria's government plans to spend 11.25 billion naira (roughly US $112.5 million) over the next three years to fight the advance of the desert in its northern states and on forestry programmes, 'The Vanguard' newspaper reported the minister of state for environment, Imeh Okopido, as telling a visiting team of Israeli forestry experts. NIGERIA: Bakassi beseiged by the Atlantic The disputed Bakassi area in southeastern Nigeria, also claimed by Cameroon, risks being submerged by the Atlantic Ocean, 'The Guardian' quoted the Bakassi local council chairman, Chief Emmanuel Etene, as saying. Etene told 'The Guardian' that if nothing urgent was done, the entire Bakassi peninsula, especially Abana - the local government headquarters - would be submerged soon. He said an embankment built by the council had been destroyed by the powerful waves and that between November 1999 and January 2000, marine erosion had submerged property worth about US $1 million. NIGERIA: Northern states shelve Sharia The governments of Nigerian states that have adopted the Sharia (Islamic law) agreed on Tuesday to revert to the penal code used in the north of the country since independence, 'The Guardian' reported on Wednesday. The agreement to revert to the original penal code -- a modified form of Sharia -- came at a meeting in Abuja of Nigeria's National Council of State. NIGERIA: Phone line charges slashed Nigeria's government announced on Wednesday reductions of 25 to 50 percent in the rates the state-run telecommunications utility, NITEL, charges for installing telephone lines and on off-peak international and domestic calls, 'The Guardian' reported. The installation of a new telephone landline will now cost N15,000 (US $150) instead of N20,000, the daily reported Information Minister Jerry Gana as saying. GHANA: Ruling party chooses its presidential candidate The ruling National Democratic Congress (NDC) on 29 April endorsed Vice-President John Atta Mills (56) as its candidate for Ghana's presidential elections scheduled for December, the state-owned Ghana Broadcasting Corporation (GBC) announced. SENEGAL: More attacks in Casamance There have been reports of more clashes between government troops and separatist rebels in Casmance, southern Senegal, the BBC reported on Thursday. The Senegalese army said that earlier in the week, rebels from the Mouvement des forces democratiques du Casamance (MFDC) used heavy artillery to attack a military post some 60 km southwest of Ziguinchor, the main town in the area. It said several civilians had been killed, including two Gambian businessmen, according to the BBC. SENEGAL: Wade wants direct talks with Casamance separatists Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade announced in Dakar on 29 April that he aimed to open direct talks with the rebel Mouvement des Forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) which has been fighting for a separate state in southern Senegal for 18 years, news media reported. MAURITANIA: Opposition leader released Mauritanian opposition leader Ahmed Ould Daddah, was released on 29 April, five days after his arrest by the security forces, RFI reported. Ould Daddah is the leader of the Union des forces democratiques (UFD-Ere nouvelle), one of the more vocal of the country's opposition parties. The government had accused him of openly inciting opposition supporters to violence. EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Health agreement signed with Cuba Equatorial Guinea and Cuba signed, on 28 April, an agreement for bilateral cooperation in public health, AFP quoted Equatorial Guinea's Foreign Ministry as announcing on Saturday. Under the agreement Cuba will provide training for Equatorial Guinea health workers and supply the Central African country with medicinal drugs. CAMEROON: UN Secretary-General stresses dialogue UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan stressed the importance of dialogue as a means of resolving differences at a news conference on Wednesday in Cameroon, the last leg of a five-nation trip to West and Central Africa. "... I am leaving Cameroon knowing that there is one multi-ethnic, multi-linguistic Cameroon and it should not be separated because of one language or the other," Annan said, according to a transcript of the news conference. He was referring to what has become known as the "Anglophone issue" in Cameroon, where a section of the English-speaking population has been clamouring for a separate state. What is important is to have dialogue, Annan said, "to have an open political atmosphere, to have the rule of law, and respect for the rights of others and assure each individual, each ethnic group that everyone belongs to Cameroon". There is no need to divide the people of Cameroon or create another state, he added. SAO TOME/PRINCIPE: IMF Approves US $9.0 Million Loan The International Monetary Fund (IMF) approved on 28 April a three-year credit of about US $8.9 million for Sao Tome and Principe to support its government's 2000-2002 economic program, the IMF announced. The credit will be disbursed in seven semiannual loans, the first of which, equivalent to about US $1.3 million, will be available immediately, the IMF said. HEALTH: OAU ministers to meet on HIV/AIDS African health ministers are to meet on 7-9 May in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso to discuss HIV/AIDS which, according to the WHO World Health Report 1999, caused about 1.8 million deaths in Africa in 1998. The conference is organised jointly by UNICEF, UNESCO, WHO, UNDP, UNFPA, UNDCP, World Bank, the African Development Bank and the UNAIDS Secretariat. [Information on the conference is available at the UNAIDS web site http://www.onusida-aoc.org/] WEST AFRICA: Working out ways to save war-affected children A West African Week of Truce for War-Affected Children, is to be celebrated each year to coincide with the Day of the African Child (16 June), ECOWAS ministers agreed in Accra, Ghana. The measure is included in a plan of action passed by the ministers, who participated, along with young people, civil society and media from the ECOWAS (Economic Community of West African States) subregion in a 27-28 April Conference on War Affected Children in West Africa. WESTERN SAHARA: Kofi Annan invites parties to meet in London UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has invited the parties in the Western Sahara dispute to meet on 14 May in London with his Personal Envoy, James Baker III. Baker intends to consult with the two parties -- Morocco and the Polisario Front -- and neighbouring Algeria and Mauritania, and explore ways to achieve an early, durable and agreed resolution of the dispute, UN spokesman David Wimhurst said on Tuesday. AFRICA: Angola objects to Togo hosting OAU summit The Angolan government on Thursday started a new diplomatic initiative aimed at preventing Togo from hosting the next OAU summit because of its alleged violations of UN sanctions on UNITA, Angolan state radio reported on Thursday. Angola wants OAU member states to take a position that conforms with UN guidelines, which call for the adoption of strict measures on any country that does not adhere to UN Security Council guidelines, the radio said. Togo is mentioned in a UN Sanctions Committee report on Angola as one of the countries that have violated UN sanctions on UNITA. 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