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 37 9 to 15 September 2000
CONTENTS: GUINEA: Sierra Leonean, Liberian refugees flee harassment GUINEA: UNHCR assistance for displaced Guineans GUINEA: Former presidential candidate sentenced SIERRA LEONE: Scores of child soldiers roam the jungle SIERRA LEONE: US Lawmakers consider conflict diamonds legislation SIERRA LEONE: Drug shortage at Waterloo IDP camp SIERRA LEONE: Wives of ex-fighters get small loans SIERRA LEONE: Hostages freed NIGERIA: Muslim, Christian students clash on campus NIGERIA: Southeastern youths demand local control of resources NIGERIA: Bishops urge government to solve Sharia issue NIGERIA: Religious clashes claim 10 lives NIGERIA: Shell cuts production by 130,000 bd LIBERIA: Massive yellow fever vaccinations LIBERIA: President reinstates suspended defence minister GUINEA-BISSAU: Ministers reinstated GUINEA-BISSAU/SENEGAL: Bissau, Dakar to ask for UN monitors SENEGAL: US instructors train peacekeeping brigade BURKINA FASO: Efforts to protect wildlife GUINEA: Sierra Leonean, Liberian refugees flee harassment Hundreds of people arrived in Sierra Leone from Guinea this week and Liberia set up a commission to organise the repatriation of its nationals after Guinean authorities and militant youths detained some 5,000 West Africans in reaction to rebel attacks in border areas. The detainees, mostly from Sierra Leone and Liberia, were later freed. Some complained of beatings and rape, according to human rights and humanitarian sources. Tension prevailed in Conakry this week and hundreds of Sierra Leoneans fearing harassment camped outside their country's embassy. The US Committee for Refugees warned on Wednesday that there was still serious concern for the safety of nearly half a million refugees, even though the government has eased the crackdown on Liberians and Sierra Leoneans. There are nearly 500,000 refugees from Liberia and Sierra Leone living in Guinea. GUINEA: UNHCR assistance for displaced Guineans The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) said on Friday it was providing special assistance to Guineans affected by recent fighting along the border with Sierra Leone. "A UNHCR mission from Conakry is leaving for Forecariah today to bring support and assistance," the aid agency said in a statement. At least 1,000 Guineans have been displaced by the fighting between Guinean security forces and armed groups in Sierra Leone. GUINEA: Former presidential candidate sentenced A Guinean court on Monday sentenced opposition leader Alpha Conde to five years in prison after finding him guilty of sedition. Conde called those who testified against him "false witnesses". Human rights groups and foreign governments said his sentencing was a setback for democracy. Conde was arrested in December 1998, one day after a presidential election in which he finished third amid allegations of vote rigging. Seven of his 47 co-accused received sentences ranging from 18 months to three years. The others were released or acquitted. SIERRA LEONE: Scores of child soldiers roam the jungle Scores of child soldiers who survived the British raid on the West Side Boys on Sunday have dispersed into the jungle, the Freetown newspaper, 'Concord Times' reported. It quoted travellers along the highway leading from the Freetown peninsula to Masiaka, 51 km due east of the capital, as sighting armed boys roaming near the jungle. SIERRA LEONE: US Lawmakers consider conflict diamonds legislation The US House of Representatives began hearing testimony on Monday on a bill that, if passed into law, would block the import of conflict diamonds into the country, the US Department of State said on Wednesday. The law would enable the implementation of a certificate of origin for diamonds, in line with a UN ban on trade in gems from sources such as rebel groups in Angola and Sierra Leone. Meanwhile, media sources reported this week that Kuwait had banned the import of uncut diamonds from Sierra Leone. SIERRA LEONE: Drug shortage at Waterloo IDP camp Doctors employed by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) say they have doubled to 4,000 the chloroquine tablets they provide each week to IDPs at a medical centre ADRA runs in Waterloo, some 15 km southeast of Freetown, WHO reported. The centre is located in an IDP camp. An Argentinian surgeon at the centre, Rubin Rostrand, told WHO the NGO was having "serious trouble" maintaining an adequate supply of medicines since many new people were coming in sick with malaria and infectious diseases, the UN agency said in its Health Update for Sierra Leone of 8 September. SIERRA LEONE: Wives of ex-fighters get small loans Wives of former fighters in Sierra Leone will receive loans to start small businesses aimed at reducing their dependency on their husbands, according to the state agency responsible for the programme. The National Committee for Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (NCDDR) said 300 participants in the programme attended a three-day workshop in early September on good book-keeping and efficient money management. The workshop was organised with Counterparts in Rehabilitation and Development Sierra Leone. SIERRA LEONE: Hostages freed British paratroopers on Sunday freed six British soldiers and one Sierra Leonean officer who were seized on 25 August by a rebel group calling itself the West Side Boys. One British soldier and 25 rebels were killed and another 12 British troops were wounded in the assault in the Occra Hills, some 40 km due east of Freetown. NIGERIA: Muslim, Christian students clash on campus The Abubakar Tafewa Balewa University in Bauchi, northern Nigeria, was closed indefinitely on Wednesday following clashes between Muslim and Christian students, media organisations reported. AFP said an office on the university compound was burnt and about 15 vehicles vandalised. It said the violence erupted over a student union election. NIGERIA: Southeastern youths demand local control of resources The 'Vanguard' daily in Nigeria reported that about 5,000 youths marched on Wednesday in Yenagoa, capital of the southeastern state of Bayelsa, to press their demand that states fully control their resources. The youths rejected a provision for states to receive 13 percent of the revenue generated on their territory. That provision is contained in the federal government's Niger Delta Development Bill, passed this year by parliament. NIGERIA: Bishops urge government to solve Sharia issue The Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) has urged the government to find a lasting solution to the controversy caused by the imposition of Sharia in some northern Nigerian states, 'The Guardian' newspaper of Lagos reported. If this were not done, democracy and national unity could be derailed, the CBCN said at its conference in Kaduna this week, NIGERIA: Religious clashes claim 10 lives At least 10 people died last week in clashes between Muslims and Christians in the northern Nigerian state of Gombe, the BBC reported. Authorities said they had made several arrests and restored order. Hundreds of people travelling through the area had sought safety in police stations, the report said on Saturday. Tension in Gombe has been growing for weeks over proposals to introduce Sharia, Islamic law, which eight Nigerian states have already adopted. NIGERIA: Shell cuts production by 130,000 bd Shell's Nigerian subsidiary has reduced production in oil and gas fields near Warri in Delta State, southeastern Nigeria, following an oil spill over the last weekend, AFP on Tuesday reported a company spokesman as saying. The spill affected Chanomi Creek and other waterways in the southeastern state. AFP said Shell Nigeria had decided to cut back its production by 130,000 barrels per day (bd). Average output is 950,000 bd, according to Shell. LIBERIA: Massive yellow fever vaccinations About 60,000 Liberians have received vaccinations for yellow fever, following an outbreak in the west of the country last month. Some 150,000 people are targeted for vaccination. There have been 102 cases of yellow fever reported in Liberia and four people have died, Dr. Mamadou Kone of the World Health Organization told IRIN on Thursday. LIBERIA: President reinstates suspended defense minister Liberian President Charles Taylor has reinstated his defence minister, Daniel Chea, after suspending him about two weeks ago for "insubordination", news reports said on Friday. Chea, a long-time ally of Taylor's, had been placed under house arrest and guarded by members of the Anti-Terrorist Unit, which is under the command of the presidency. Officials had said his suspension was linked to an administrative matter. GUINEA-BISSAU: Ministers reinstated Four ministers and a secretary of state from the Resistencia da Guine (RGB) party who had been sacked last week by President Kumba Yala have been reinstated on Wednesday. They had been dismissed after a power-sharing row between the RGB and its coalition partner, the Partido de Renovacao Social (PRS). The split had threatened to cause a major political crisis in the country since the PRS does not have an absolute majority in parliament. It has 37 of the 102 seats, the RGB has 27 and the former ruling Partido Africano para a Independencia da Guine e Cabo Verde (PAIGC) has 25. GUINEA-BISSAU/SENEGAL: Bissau, Dakar to ask for UN monitors Guinea-Bissau and Senegal plan to ask the United Nations for international observers along their common border to check the movement of armed gangs which Senegalese villagers say are raiding their communities from Guinea-Bissau, LUSA reported. Guinea-Bissau Prime Minister Caetano Ntchama told reporters in Bissau on 8 September that the presidents of both countries would take the request to UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan. SENEGAL: US instructors train peacekeeping brigade US military instructors have begun training some 400 Senegalese soldiers under the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI), an official of the US Information Service in Dakar, Senegal, told IRIN. The two-month programme, which began on Monday in Senegal, is being carried out by 35 US servicemen and some 40 civilian instructors. It covers peacekeeping and humanitarian assistance doctrine, individual soldier skills, training in combat support and combat services, staff-officer skills, and the military decision-making process. BURKINA FASO: Efforts to protect wildlife Burkina Faso is setting up its third wildlife reserve, primarily to protect hippopotami, which are considered sacred by residents in the eastern part of the country, PANA reported on Monday. The 28,000-hectare reserve is expected to be completed by next January and environmentalists hope it will host some 234 hippopotami within 10 years. The reserve now has about 48 of the animals. Abidjan, 15 September 2000; 18:07 GMT [IRIN-WA: Tel: +225 22-40-4440; Fax (Admin): +225 22-40-4435; Fax (Editorial Desk): +225-22-41-9339; e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ci] [This item is delivered in the "africa-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information, free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. 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