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 22-41-9339 e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ciWEST AFRICA IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 35 26 August to 1 September 2000
CONTENTS: SIERRA LEONE: RUF fighters return six UN armoured vehicles SIERRA LEONE: Militia releases five British troops SIERRA LEONE: Spanish Red Cross sending supplies for IDPs SIERRA LEONE: Suspected RUF kill nine, abduct 15 SIERRA LEONE: Lassa Fever prevalent in the east SIERRA LEONE: Annan wants UNAMSIL strength hiked to 20,500 SIERRA LEONE: Residents flee RUF-held Port Loko, Kambia LIBERIA: Little sign of IDPs in lower Lofa, aid workers say LIBERIA: Yellow fever outbreak NIGERIA: Bad roads blamed for deadly traffic accidents NIGERIA: Doctor agrees to have alleged AIDS vaccine tested NIGERIA: Desertification hampers food production NIGERIA: Bilateral agreements crown Clinton visit NIGERIA: At least 22 die in fuel tanker blaze NIGERIA: Overseas-based doctors to provide boreholes NIGERIA: EX-IM bank to finance medical purchases COTE D'IVOIRE: Presidential election postponed to October MALI: RSF protests violence against journalist BURKINA FASO: Riot police use tear gas to disperse refugees CHAD: IFAD lends US $11 million for food security NIGER: West African bank funds water scheme GABON: Government tackles rehabilitation of forestry sector SENEGAL: Hundreds of airline passengers stranded SENEGAL: Border with Guinea-Bissau closed once more THE GAMBIA: State official calls for better ties with media GUINEA: Refugees from Sierra Leone continue to come in GUINEA: Sit-in in Mauritania in support of Alpha Conde MAURITANIA: Four weeklies seized in one week, RSF says MAURITANIA: Suspension of trawler fishing GHANA: Elections brought forward by a day BENIN: AIDS Foundation launches fund-raising campaign WEST AFRICA: Japan donates US $100,000 for peace SIERRA LEONE: RUF fighters return six UN armoured vehicles Anti-government Revolutionary United Front (RUF) fighters have returned six UN armoured vehicles seized in May when they detained hundreds of UN peacekeepers. RUF 'Brigadier General' Moussa Kallon turned over the vehicles on Wednesday to the deputy commander of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), General Mohammed Garba, in Macoth village, 120 km northeast of Freetown. SIERRA LEONE: Militia releases five British troops Renegade militiamen calling themselves the West Side Boys kidnapped 11 British troops and a Sierra Leonean serviceman on 25 August and freed five of the British soldiers on Wednesday. Up to Friday, negotiations continued to obtain the release of the other seven hostages. SIERRA LEONE: Spanish Red Cross sending supplies for IDPs A shipment of relief supplies from the Spanish Red Cross (CRE) was scheduled to leave the port of Valencia on 2 September for Sierra Leone, Pilar Sorcen of the CRE's Department of Communication told IRIN on Thursday. The shipment, intended for internally displaced persons (IDPs), includes 1,993 fifteen- and twenty-litre containers of water, 2,500 blankets and 1,400 sheets of plastic, according to a communique issued by the CRE. SIERRA LEONE: Suspected RUF kill nine, abduct 15 Fighters thought to be members of the anti-government Revolutionary United Front (RUF) killed nine people and abducted 15 last weekend during an attack on the village of Folloh, near Kailahun, some 300 km east of Freetown, AFP reported. Eight of the dead were civilians and one a former pro-government Kamajor militiaman. Most of those abducted were Kamajors who had handed in their weapons, AFP reported. SIERRA LEONE: Lassa Fever prevalent in the east Lassa fever, a potentially deadly disease, is now prevalent in eastern Sierra Leone, the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) reported its chief medical officer as saying on Monday. Colonel Surendram Singh told reporters that since January 373 reported cases of the disease had been treated at the Lassa Fever Treatment Centre in the eastern town of Kenema. SIERRA LEONE: Annan wants UNAMSIL strength hiked to 20,500 UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended, in a report released on Monday, that the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) be increased to 20,500 troops to attain greater operational efficiency and deploy in key areas of the country, the UN Department of Information said. The UN Security Council said it aimed to respond quickly to the report's recommendations. Sierra Leone Information Minister Julius Spencer told IRIN on Tuesday his government was "very optimistic" that the Council would agree to increase the authorised UNAMSIL strength of 13,000. SIERRA LEONE: Residents flee RUF-held Port Loko, Kambia Residents fleeing the RUF-held areas of Port Loko and Kambia Districts said the rebels were harassing civilians and causing them to abandon their towns and villages, BBC reported on Tuesday. They also said Revolutionary United Front (RUF) fighters were taxing the residents for food and money, and forcing parents to pay ransoms to avoid the conscription of their children into the RUF. LIBERIA: Little sign of IDPs in lower Lofa, aid workers say Aid workers returning from lower Lofa County in Liberia said on Thursday that the situation was calm and there was virtually no sign of internally displaced people, contrary to reports that had been circulating recently in the capital, Monrovia. A Medecins Sans Frontieres (MSF) assessment team that traveled to the towns of Komgbo, Tarvey and Bambia in lower Lofa on Wednesday found only nine displaced people, said Robert Parker, the head of mission of MSF in Monrovia. However, he was told that many were hiding in the bush in upper Lofa. Two weeks ago MSF found 73 IDPs around the town of Zorzor in upper Lofa and plans another assessment mission to that region. MSF pulled its teams out of Lofa county in July because of insecurity. The government has said its forces are battling dissidents who are based in Guinea, which the Guinean government denies. LIBERIA: Yellow fever outbreak The World Health Organisation (WHO) has sent emergency vaccines to Liberia to stop a yellow fever outbreak. Up until Wednesday the disease has claimed four lives and infected at least 80 people in the counties of Margibi, Nimba, Montserrado, Grand Bassa and Grand Cape Mount, Dr. Mamadou Kone, a member of a WHO medical team that fights epidemics in the region, told IRIN. NIGERIA: Bad roads blamed for deadly traffic accidents Calm has returned to a town outside the Nigerian capital, Abuja, after a demonstration on Tuesday over poor road conditions turned bloody when police attempted to remove the bodies of two people killed in a multiple accident. Vehicles were damaged and 10 people arrested during Tuesday's demonstration. The protest followed a pile-up involving seven vehicles that claimed at least 26 lives on Monday, according to police spokesman Matthew Obiuwevbi. Some news reports have put the death toll at 70. During 15 years of corrupt military rule, Nigeria's infrastructure crumbled. Road repair received little attention and potholes, narrow lanes and lack of demarcation make driving dangerous. Traffic accidents are common. NIGERIA: Doctor agrees to have alleged AIDS vaccine tested A Nigerian doctor who claims to have developed a vaccine and cure for AIDS has told a parliamentary Committee on Health that he will submit his work for verification after initially refusing to do so. Dr. Jeremiah Abalaka's medical claims regarding AIDS have not been accepted by the international health community, nor endorsed by Nigeria's leading health practitioners. "Now I have sent it to America and I'm ready to make it available to the house for investigation," the 'Vanguard' newspaper quoted him on Tuesday as saying. A ban on the sale of all locally produced HIV drugs was announced on 20 July by Health Minister Tim Menakaya. He said the drugs would remained prohibited until scientifically tested. NIGERIA: Desertification hampers food production Desertification in northern Nigeria is affecting food production, the 'Vanguard' newspaper of Lagos reported on 25 August. Environment Minister Sani Zango Daura was quoted as saying desertification was growing at a rate of 0.6 km per year, resulting in "poor agricultural yield and the consequent food scarcity in the country". Speaking at a meeting with the Dutch minister of Housing, Spatial Planning and Environment, Daura said Nigeria had been battling with desertification since the historic Sahelian drought of the 1970s. NIGERIA: Bilateral agreements crown Clinton visit US President Bill Clinton wrapped up a visit to Nigeria on Monday after signing a number of bilateral agreements with President Olusegun Obasanjo. The agreements included commitments to intensify cooperation on military reform and battle international drug trafficking, an open-skies arrangement and help in curbing the spread of HIV: on Sunday, Clinton announced more than US $20 million to support efforts to combat AIDS, polio and malaria in Nigeria. NIGERIA: At least 22 die in fuel tanker blaze At least 22 people were killed on 26 August when a fuel tanker smashed into a market in southwestern Nigeria and burst into flames, AFP said, citing press reports. The driver of the tanker lost control and ran into the main market at the Ibillo community, the `Vanguard' reported. NIGERIA: Overseas-based doctors to provide boreholes Nigerian doctors in the Americas say they will start a programme next year to drill boreholes in some local communities and thus provide a steady supply of water to residents, `The Guardian' of Lagos reported. Julius Kpaduwa of the Association of Nigerian Physicians in the Americas (ANPA) said a borehole would be sunk in any community visited by an ANPA medical mission. Nine ANPA missions work in various Nigerian rural communities each year. The association supports each mission with US $10,000 and receives donations in cash and medical supplies from individuals and pharmaceutical industries in the United States. NIGERIA: EX-IM bank to finance medical purchases The Export-Import Bank is considering financing the purchase of up to US $250 million annually of US medical equipment and services exports by Nigeria, the bank said in a statement on 26 August. The equipment and services are to go to potential private sector buyers under a contract with Nigeria's Ministry of Health. The Abuja National Hospital and Federal Medical Center in Gombe stand to benefit through a long-term contract for the management of the two hospitals. The Ex-Im Bank has also announced that it will support the state government of Jigawa in northern Nigeria to purchase US $6 million of US-manufactured broadband wireless Internet access equipment, which will in part be used for health care services, education, training and commerce. COTE D'IVOIRE: Presidential election postponed to October Cote d'Ivoire's government has postponed the first round of presidential elections from 17 September to 22 October at the request of the state body organising the polls. Should a second round prove necessary, it will be held on 5 November, according to a decree adopted on Wednesday by the cabinet. The Commission nationale electorale (CNE) had requested the postponement to iron out a number of technical hitches. It said, for example, that only 250,000 eligible voters aged 18 to 20 years had registered whereas 800,000 to 1,000,000 had been expected, while the delivery of identity papers to electors had only just begun. MALI: RSF protests violence against journalist Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF - Reporters Without Borders) said on Thursday that it had urged Mali's parliament to take action against a parliamentarian from the ruling Alliance democratique du Mali (ADEMA) who choked a journalist, Chahana Tiakou of the private periodical 'Independant'. In a letter to the speaker of the national assembly, Aly Nouhoum Diallo, RSF urged him to "speak out publicly in favour of sanctions against Mr. Mamadou Gassama Diaby", whom the journalist has since sued. Tiakou had been on assignment in parliament when he was attacked. BURKINA FASO: Riot police use tear gas to disperse refugees Riot police dislodged scores of refugees and asylum seekers on Monday from the UNHCR premises in Ouagadougou, which they had invaded to press for more aid from the agency, a UNHCR official told IRIN. The source said protesters had a mix of demands such as resettlement in third countries in Scandinavia and North America. Some complained that the facilities in Burkina Faso, such as housing and daily stipends, were insufficient. Many had occupied the Roman Catholic cathedral in Ouagadougou before being expelled by police about a week ago. The refugees included nationals of Burundi, Cote d'Ivoire, Cameroon, Central African Republic, Chad, the Republic of Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Rwanda, Sudan, Somalia and Togo. CHAD: IFAD lends US $11 million for food security Chad is to get a US $11-million loan from the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD) for a food security project in Northern Guera, one of the country's most disadvantaged regions, the UN agency said. The deal, signed in Rome, meets part of the overall project cost of US $17.62 million. The remainder is to come from the Belgium Survival Fund for the Third World ($3.68 million), the World Food Programme ($650,000), Chad's government ($1.16 million) and the beneficiaries ($780,000). In addition, IFAD will donate $650,000 to the project, whose goal is to promote rural grassroots organisations so that their members can improve food security, their nutritional status and their lives, in a sustainable manner. NIGER: West African bank funds water scheme The West African Development Bank has granted Niger two billion CFA (about US $2.9 million) to partially finance a water supply scheme, PANA reported on Tuesday. The project aims to supply 2,432 cubic metres of potable water a day to the city of Tillaberi, about 120 km west of Niamey. The city needs an estimated 3,500 cubic metres per day. The bank has also decided to open an office in Niamey, PANA said. GABON: Government tackles rehabilitation of forestry sector Gabon is attempting to rehabilitate its forestry sector in an effort to create more jobs and make more diverse use of the country's resources. Gabon has largely relied on petroleum exports to generate income. A key component of the rehabilitation effort is the construction of a factory in the Moyen Ogooue province that is capable of generating about 800 jobs, PANA reported on Monday. Seven other wood factories are being built throughout the country. They are expected to create more than 1,000 jobs next year. SENEGAL: Hundreds of airline passengers stranded About 400 people traveling with Air Afrique, some of whom have been waiting in Dakar for more than a week to travel to France, have been told they will leave on Friday. Some who had been stranded for as many as eight days were so irate that they blocked the check-in counter at the airport, according to news reports. They were given lodging in a Dakar hotel but some feared the delay would cost them their jobs on their return to France. "A plane has been leased and there is enough space to pick up all 400 passengers," Air Afrique spokeswoman Awa Kone told IRIN on Friday. She said it was scheduled to arrive in Dakar on Friday evening. SENEGAL: Border with Guinea-Bissau closed once more The border between Senegal and Guinea-Bissau remained closed this week as a result of a blockade imposed on Sunday by youths from Kolda on the Senegalese side of the frontier, the official 'Le Soleil' daily in Dakar reported. The move was sparked by the lack of progress of a joint commission formed to help restore goods stolen by armed raiders operating from Guinea-Bissau, news organisations quoted the youths as saying. The formation of the commission was one of the points of an agreement on 5 August between Guinea-Bissau and Senegalese officials. That agreement had led border residents to lift a previous blockade they had imposed following the raids, in which many cattle were stolen. The blockade was also reimposed to press demands for medical and food aid for displaced populations and compensation for the victims of the raids, 'Le Soleil' quoted area youths as saying. THE GAMBIA: State official calls for better ties with media A government spokesman in The Gambia has called for the administration and the media to reconcile "so that together we can maintain the peace and stability that we all have come to cherish". The spokesman, Momodou Jallow, was quoted on Friday by 'The Independent' of Banjul as saying that peace and stability were essential for the development of The Gambia and the sub-region. The Gambia has an independent press but reporters are occasionally harassed by security forces. GUINEA: Refugees from Sierra Leone continue to come in The UNHCR, worried that members of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) trying to cross into Guinea from Sierra Leone could create trouble, has proposed that a security camp be set up for the ex-combatants, the UN agency said on 25 August. It said the Guinean authorities continued to restrict entry into Guinea to vulnerable people, suspecting that asylum-seekers, who had been entering Guinea at the rate of about 300 a day, include a "substantial number" of RUF rebels. Guinean officials said many appeared to be heavily drugged and aggressive. GUINEA: Sit-in in Mauritania in support of Alpha Conde A Mauritanian opposition party, l'Union des forces democratiques (UFD) staged a sit-in on 24 August in front of Guinea's consulate in Mauritania in solidarity with detained Guinean politician Alpha Conde, PANA reported. The protest came a week after the UFD's commission on human rights organised a debate on the Conde issue and announced that it was sending two lawyers to join the Guinean opposition leader's defence team, PANA said. Conde was arrested in December 1998, just days after losing a presidential election. He and 47 members of his Rassemblement du Peuple de Guinee party have been accused of endangering the state. MAURITANIA: Four weeklies seized in one week, RSF says Mauritania's authorities have this year seized seven weeklies, including four in the last week of August, Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) said in a 31 August news release. The media watchdog called on the government of Colonel Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya to have the article under which the periodicals were seized repealed. If the government continues to use Article 11 of the 25 July 1991 Edict-law on press freedom as it has in recent weeks, the future of the private press appears uncertain in Mauritania, it said. In 1998-1999, Mauritanian newspapers were seized 12 times and suffered seven suspensions of one to three months. Article 11 allows the Interior Ministry to "forbid the circulation, distribution or sale of newspapers that undermine the principles of Islam or the credibility of the state, damage the general interest or disturb public order and security", RSF said. Subjects that lead to suspension include corruption, drugs, slavery, the Western Sahara situation, human rights, relations with Israel and Islamic militant networks, RSF said. MAURITANIA: Suspension of trawler fishing An annual suspension of trawler fishing along Mauritania's coasts, initiated in 1993 to allow over-exploited species to regenerate, entered into effect on Thursday, PANA reported an official source in Nouakchott as saying. The suspension coincides each year with the September-October spawning season. Mauritania's waters are considered among the world's richest in fish. GHANA: Elections brought forward by a day Presidential and parliamentary elections in Ghana will be held on 7 December, one day earlier than planned, Ghana's electoral commission announced on Friday. Commission Chairman Kwadwo Afari-Gyan said the date needed to be changed because there were conflicting interpretations of the expiry of the presidential term, the dissolution of parliament and the fixing of election dates. BENIN: AIDS Foundation launches fund-raising campaign The Benin AIDS Foundation has launched a campaign aimed at raising money to help people living with HIV, PANA reported. The money collected through the campaign, during which people are being asked to donate coins, will go toward paying for basic drugs to treat opportunistic diseases, promote social and professional reintegration and assist widows, widowers and orphans, PANA said on Wednesday. WEST AFRICA: Japan donates US $100,000 for peace The Japanese government has donated US $100,000 to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) for initiatives to promote peace and stability in West Africa, Voice of Nigeria radio reported on Thursday. 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