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 42 14-20 October 2000
CONTENTS: SIERRA LEONE: Nigerian aid for children's village SIERRA LEONE: Zambia to provide fresh troops in December SIERRA LEONE: RUF may withdraw from diamond fields SIERRA LEONE: President orders release of journalist SIERRA LEONE: Government schools in north opened LIBERIA: Fighting displaces thousands COTE D'IVOIRE: Airports closed at night for elections COTE D'IVOIRE: Bomb scares at banks COTE D'IVOIRE: Dead city campaign flops GUINEA: US Committee for Refugees issues SOS GUINEA: Authorities round up deserters SENEGAL: Casamance situation worries rights group GUINEA-BISSAU: President warns Casamance separatists NIGERIA: Medical workers killed in boat accident NIGERIA: Youth employment scheme launched NIGERIA: Government endorses contract to supply peacekeepers NIGERIA: Clashes claim dozens of lives WEST AFRICA: Food insecurity worst in sub-Sahara Africa WEST AFRICA: Polio vaccinations target 70 million children GHANA: Church group attacks medical team SIERRA LEONE: Nigerian aid for children's village A Nigerian battalion of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) has donated relief supplies to the Save Our Souls (SOS) children's village in Freetown, UNAMSIL reported on Wednesday. The gesture was part of activities marking the country's 40th independence anniversary. Another Nigerian battalion has been helping some 2,500 displaced persons with food and medicines in the Magbele Bridge area, about 60 km northeast of Freetown, UNAMSIL said. SIERRA LEONE: Zambia to provide fresh troops in December Zambian Defence Minister Chitalu Sampa said on Friday that 776 soldiers would be sent to Sierra Leone in December at the end of tour of the first contingent, China's Xinhua news agency reported, quoting the official 'Times of Zambia'. Scores of Zambians were among 500 UN peacekeepers detained by Revolutionary United Front rebels in May. They were released later but three are still missing. SIERRA LEONE: RUF may withdraw from diamond fields Liberian President Charles Taylor has said Sierra Leone's Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels might be willing withdraw and allow UN peacekeepers to take control of diamond fields in the east of the country, Britain's ambassador to the UN said on Monday. Ambassador Jeremy Greenstock told journalists in New York that Taylor had suggested this to a UN Security Council mission that visited Sierra Leone and Liberia in September. He made the suggestion, the ambassador said, "as firmly as he denied that he was dealing in diamonds and arms with the RUF". Greenstock headed an 11-member delegation on a five-nation tour of West Africa that started on 7 October and included Liberia. He said Taylor could no longer "exploit the vacuum in Sierra Leone". SIERRA LEONE: President orders release of journalist President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah has ordered the release of the editor of the 'Wisdom' newspaper, Abdul Kuyateh, who was detained on 11 May and held without charge under emergency regulations, Sierra Leone Web reported on Monday. Kuyateh was arrested after security forces found documents in the home of Revolutionary United Front leader Foday Sankoh, allegedly linking him "to covert dealings with the rebel leader", Sierra Leone Web said. SIERRA LEONE: Government schools in north opened Schools have reopened in the government-controlled towns of Kabala and Bumbuna in Sierra Leone's Northern Province, the Missionary Services News Agency, MISNA, reported on Tuesday. It quoted a missionary, the Reverend Antonio Guiotto, as saying that the schools were "more crowded than ever" despite the presence of Revolutionary United Front rebels in the area. MISNA also reported that the Belgian chapter of Medecins Sans Frontieres had reopened the government hospital in Kabala and a clinic belonging to the Roman Catholic mission of Bumbuna. LIBERIA: Fighting displaces thousands Liberia's government said on Thursday its forces had retaken Voinjama, capital of the northern county of Lofa, from armed dissidents. Earlier in the week, a humanitarian worker told IRIN that fighting in the county had displaced thousands of people, many of whom needed health care. "The situation was not stabilised at all by last Thursday" when a team of local and international humanitarian organisations carried out an assessment mission to the region, Patrick David, of Action Contre la Faim (ACF), had told IRIN on Monday. He said "some thousands" of IDPs were sighted in towns in the area. COTE D'IVOIRE: Airports closed at night for elections Cote d'Ivoire's borders and airports will be closed each evening from 22:00 GMT on 20 October to 08:00 GMT on 24 October, in connection with Sunday's presidential election, the head of the ruling Conseil National de Salut Publique (CNSP), Robert Guei, announced. He said on Thursday that the measure was being taken to make sure nothing disturbs the election. Guei also promised to abide by the result of the 22 October presidential elections. He said: "If I were to be beaten at the upcoming elections, as a worthy heir of (late) president Felix Houphouet-Boigny, and as a convinced and sincere democrat, I would hand over power ... to its new possessor whom the Ivorian people will have chosen freely." [See also separate item titled 'COTE D'IVOIRE: IRIN Focus on the presidential elections'] COTE D'IVOIRE: Bomb scares at banks Several banks evacuated their main offices in the centre of Abidjan on Monday following a false bomb alert, AFP reported. A security official at the African Development Bank told IRIN an anonymous caller had informed the bank that a bomb would explode on Monday morning. No device was found, the official said. On 13 October, a dozen armed men in military uniform demanded access to account records at the BCEAO, the local branch of a bank for French-speaking West African countries. They were denied access. The men, who said they wanted to verify certain accounts, told the director they were acting on the orders of the office of the head of state, 'Le Patriote' newspaper reported. COTE D'IVOIRE: Dead city campaign flops A two-day "dead city campaign" called by political parties, unions and non-governmental organisations failed to gain widespread public support. The action, organised by the Forum of Dead City Days, was to protest the disqualification of 14 presidential candidates. The protest - on Monday and Tuesday - was to include all workers, traders, transporters and drivers. GUINEA: US Committee for Refugees issues SOS The U.S. Committee for Refugees (USCR) on Thursday called on the international community to respond more urgently to the deteriorating security and humanitarian situation in Guinea and take all steps needed to protect some 400,000 refugees there who face special protection problems. USCR said Guinea suffered 15 insurgent attacks that killed some 360 people in the past year, according to its government. The organisation also said international donors should immediately pledge the US $13 million or more that UNHCR needs to strengthen its staff in Guinea and to establish new, safer refugee camps there. Meanwhile, Chris Ache, the UNHCR resident representative in Guinea, told IRIN on Tuesday that efforts were underway to deliver food under Guinean military escort to refugees around the town of Guekedou who had not received food for as many as 45 days because poor security had hampered deliveries. In a related development, a team from the UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies visited six refugee camps in Guinea last weekend and "found the general situation to be relatively calm", UNHCR spokesman Kris Janowski said in Geneva on Tuesday. GUINEA: Authorities round up deserters Authorities in Conakry have been rounding up deserters and taking them to a military camp from where reinforcements are being sent to border areas to fight armed attackers reportedly based in Liberia and Sierra Leone, Guineenews, an online news service, reported on Tuesday. Guineenews also said civilians had been recruited into local militia groups to help defend the borders. Some have been given firearms while others use machetes or sticks, the news service said. Meanwhile, Radio Guinee reported on Tuesday that the security forces had shot down a helicopter on the border with Liberia after a bombing attack that left two people dead. It said there had been three helicopters, but the other two flew off towards Liberia after the attack. The report could not be independently confirmed and Liberia denied it had any helicopter gunships. SENEGAL: Casamance situation worries rights group A team from a continental human rights organisation based in Dakar, Rencontre Africaine pour la Defense des Droits de l'Homme (RADDHO), found both positive developments and worrying signs during a recent visit to the Casamance area of southern Senegal. RADDHO's main concern regarded negotiations between the Senegalese government and Casamance rebels. It said they were hampered by "delaying tactics, the strategy of keeping negotiations confidential and the total absence of transparence, leaving the door open for the most unhealthy rumours and speculations". GUINEA-BISSAU: President warns Casamance separatists The president of Guinea-Bissau, Kumba Yala, has warned separatist rebels in the Casamance region of neighboring Senegal against attempting to use his country as a base for cross-border attacks against the Senegalese government. "We will never let anyone use our territory to disturb the normalcy of another sovereign state," Yala was quoted by the Portuguese news agency, LUSA, as saying on Thursday. NIGERIA: Medical workers killed in boat accident The government of Nigeria's Ondo State on Wednesday ordered an investigation into a boat incident in which six medical personnel taking part in a nationwide polio vaccination campaign drowned, 'The Guardian' reported. The agents were conducting vaccinations in the riverine areas of the state when their boat sank. NIGERIA: Youth employment scheme launched A campaign to provide jobs for young Nigerians is to start next year, 'The Guardian' reported on Thursday. Presidential spokesman Doyin Okupe said in Abuja on Tuesday that the US $74-million scheme targetted the "high number" of unemployed, many of whom had been without jobs for years after graduation. NIGERIA: Government endorses contract to supply peacekeepers Nigeria's government endorsed a 1.8-billion-naira (US $16.7 million) contract on Wednesday for the supply of logistic items for Nigerian peacekeeping troops in Sierra Leone and the Democratic Republic of Congo, 'The Guardian reported, quoting Information Minister Jerry Gana. NIGERIA: Clashes claim dozens of lives Clashes between a militant Yoruba group, the Oodua People's Congress (OPC), and Hausa-Fulanis claimed dozens of lives in Lagos this week, prompting authorities to impose a curfew in the most stricken neighbourhoods. Official reports put the death toll at 24, while other sources said about 100 people had died. Many Hausas sought refuge in police and army barracks. The government has now banned the OPC and some of the group's members have been arrested. [See separate item titled 'NIGERIA: IRIN Focus on the deepening north-south divide'] WEST AFRICA: Food insecurity worst in sub-Sahara Africa The UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) said in its annual report released on Monday that food insecurity was worse in sub-Saharan Africa than anywhere in the world. It said that in 19 out of 46 sub-Saharan countries, the undernourished had an average deficit of more than 300 kilocalories per person per day. The FAO combined the estimates of both food prevalence and depth of hunger to divide the world's nations into five groups. Of the 23 countries in the most deprived group, 18 are in Africa. WEST AFRICA: Polio vaccinations target 70 million children International health officials are calling an effort to vaccinate 70 million children against polio in West and Central Africa the region's largest public health initiative ever. Health workers and hundreds of thousands of volunteers in 17 countries are taking part in the 10-day immunisation effort, according to the World Health Organisation (WHO). It is part of a global initiative to eradicate the crippling disease by 2005. The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) helped coordinate the regional endeavour, which was launched in Niger on 13 October. GHANA: Church group attacks medical team Members of a church in Ghana attacked a team of medical practitioners when they arrived this week to administer polio vaccines to children as part of a regional effort to eradicate the disease. Members of the First Century Baptist Church in James Town called the health workers "satans" and other names, the 'Accra Mail' newspaper reported on Thursday. Church members had been counseled on the polio vaccination exercise before the team arrived. Abidjan, 20 October 2000; 16:03 GMT [IRAN-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 . 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