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

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WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 125
25 - 31 May 2002


CONTENTS:

LIBERIA: Sporadic fighting reported
COTE D'IVOIRE: Six jailed in connection with coup plot
SENEGAL: MFDC official released
AFRICA: Proposed code of conduct for armed forces
NIGERIA: Former general says government ordered massacre
BURKINA FASO: Project to help street children
WEST AFRICA: UN agencies face $2.2 billion shortfall
WEST AFRICA: ADB financial aid


LIBERIA: Sporadic fighting reported

Sporadic fighting was reported this week in various parts of Liberia
although a diplomatic source in the capital, Monrovia, told IRIN on Friday
that it was not "very intense".

"There is a lot going on in the country and the situation is quite fluid,
however, in the past two days there seems to have been a lull," the source
said, warning, however, that the "quiet" could be deceptive. "From what
we've gathered, the rebels' strategy is to close in on the capital,
Monrovia, albeit slowly. We have heard of reports that top government
officials have been evacuating some of their family members," he added.
"This points to us that possibly the worst is yet to come. The situation
is quite worrying."

The rebel Liberians United for Reconciliation and Development (LURD),
which has been fighting to topple the government of President Charles
Taylor since 1998, has in recent months stepped up its attacks in various
parts of the country.

In a news release on Thursday, the group announced that it was in control
of Lofa County in the northwest, Gbarpolu County, which is immediately
south of Lofa, the western country of Bomi and key areas in central
Liberia.

LURD warned its men would "vehemently defend" areas under its control and
would retaliate should they come under attack from pro-government troops.
It said it was prepared to dialogue with any Liberians, except Charles
Taylor, whom it described as the sole problem of the region.

The war in Liberia has caused the displacement of thousands and fear of
heightened insecurity in neighbouring countries. Humanitarian
organisations have put the number of registered internally displaced
persons (IDPs) in Liberia at over 110,000. An assessment conducted
recently in the Liberian border area of Ganta by a team of UN and NGO
officials, found more than 21,000 people displaced by the fighting.

Key findings indicated overcrowding in the schools accommodating the IDPs,
lack of medicines and medical supplies, inadequate water and sanitation
facilities, lack of food and need for protection of the IDPs and local
residents, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA) said.

Many other Liberians have fled to Sierra Leone, Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire.

On Thursday, the force commander of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone, Lt-Gen
Daniel Opande, appealed to the Liberian government to monitor its side of
the border to prevent cross-border attacks against Sierra Leonean
villages.

During a tour of border areas, Opande met with Liberian refugees who told
him Liberian troops were demanding money before allowing people to cross
over into Sierra Leone.

According to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR), an
average of slightly more than 100 refugees are crossing the border from
Liberia into Sierra Leone daily.

The agency expressed extreme concern on Tuesday about the security of
thousands of Sierra Leonean refugees in camps situated near battle lines
in Liberia. As a result of the fighting, UNHCR was unable to access Sinje
camps, near Liberia's border with Sierra Leone, for more than two weeks
and was only able to establish regular radio contact with refugee leaders
there.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Six jailed in connection with coup plot

Six men were jailed for terms of up to 20 years on Thursday for their
alleged involvement in a failed coup attempt in early 2001 in Cote
d'Ivoire. Seven others were acquitted, the pro-state Fraternite-Matin
daily reported.

At the end of the three-week long court case, four of the accused were
found guilty of taking part in the alleged 7-8 January plot to overthrow
President Laurent Gbagbo's government and of being part of an armed group.
Each received a 20-year sentence. Two others were given three-year jail
terms for the illegal possession of firearms, the newspaper said.

During the attempted coup, overnight attacks were simultaneously launched
against the state-owned radio and television stations, the country's
largest gendarme camp and Gbagbo's home. Two gendarmes were killed and
several others wounded. Detractors of the opposition Rassemblement des
Republicains (RDR) party accused it of being behind the attacks.

Defence lawyers said that the trial was politically motivated and
perpetuated the tension between the government and the mainly Muslim,
northern-based opposition party, news organisations reported.

The reported coup attempt had been the latest in a long line of political
upheavals that beset Cote d'Ivoire since December 1999, when then
president Henri Konan Bedie was overthrown in the country's first
successful military coup. The coup brought a former army chief of staff,
General Robert Guei, to power.

Presidential elections in October 2000 were marked by violent street
protests between supporters of Guei's junta, opposition members and the
security forces. Guei, who declared himself head of state, was forced out
by demonstrations, allowing Gbagbo, the real winner of the elections, to
be sworn in.

SENEGAL: MFDC official released

A senior official of a group fighting for self-determination for the
Casamance area in southern Senegal has been released from detention in
Guinea-Bissau, various sources said.

Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported on 30 May that Alexandre Djiba,
spokesman of the Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC),
was handed over by the authorities in Bissau to Senegal's interior
minister, who visited Guinea-Bissau this week. RFI said the minister
returned to Dakar with Djiba and released him immediately.

Djiba, who has been living in exile in Banjul, The Gambia, for many years,
was arrested in Guinea-Bissau in March. The reason given for his arrest
was that he was in the country illegally, RFI said.

An analyst in Ziguinchor, the main town in Casamance, told IRIN:
"Senegal's government has scored political points by bringing him back to
Dakar and simply releasing him. Some members of the group in France and
elsewhere refuse to come to Senegal, saying they wouldn't be safe here,"
the analyst said on Friday. "This, in a way, weakens their position."

The MFDC began its armed struggle in Casamance about two decades ago.
Thousands of people have been displaced by the insecurity, while many
others have been killed or wounded, including hundreds maimed by
landmines. The latest casualties include six people who died this week
when government soldiers mistook members of a self-defence unit for MFDC
insurgents, human rights sources said.

AFRICA: Proposed code of conduct for armed forces

African security experts on Wednesday adopted a proposed code of conduct
for military and armed forces in the aim of upholding national and
international laws regarding armed conflicts.

Organised by the UN Regional Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa
and the Organization for African Unity, the 27-29 May workshop addressed
issues such international humanitarian law, civilian protection in
conflict, relations between armed forces and security forces, as well as
the implementation of the code of conduct. Among its provisions, the code
requires education and training for armed/security personnel; discourages
governments from using armed forces to restrict individual or collective
rights, and calls for protection of civilians in times of conflicts. The
code aims to discourage armed forces, rebel groups from taking power by
force.

Adopted in Lome, Togo, the proposal is expected to be adopted at the first
summit of the African Union (the successor of the OAU), and subsequently
will be implemented in military barracks and institutions. Participating
countries included Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Liberia, Republic of Congo,
Niger and Senegal.

NIGERIA: Former general says government ordered massacre

Retired army chief of staff, General Victor Malu, accused the government
of President Olusegun Obasanjo of ordering into action soldiers who last
October ransacked villages and killed over 200 civilians in Benue State,
central Nigeria.

In testifying before a special commission set up to investigate the
unrest, Malu told the commission that troops told surviving villagers that
"it was the Federal Government of Nigeria that had instructed them to kill
everybody and destroy every structure they may find".

Between 22 and 24 October, federal troops rampaged and killed hundreds in
ethnic Tiv villages in reprisal for the killing of 19 soldiers by a local
Tiv militia. The 19 had been sent in to quell unrest between Tivs and
neighbouring Jukuns in Taraba State. Though the military action has been
condemned by national and international human rights groups, the
government has defended the troops' action.

Violence and human rights were also the focus of Obasanjo's speech as he
marked his third year in office. In raising concerns about the threat of
violence during next year's presidential elections, Obasanjo said
Nigerians needed to find solutions to the wave of ethnic unrest and
instability that has rocked the country since he took office.

In the speech, Obasanjo also gave his government's acceptance of the
recommendations of a panel commissioned by Obasanjo to look into rights
abuses perpetrated in the last 30 years.

In Plateau State, 10 people died this week in clashes between Fulani
herdsmen and local people, state officials said. The first incident broke
out in Kwol community, where according to locals, herdsmen attacked them
first.

BURKINA FASO: Project to help street children

United Nations Volunteers (UNV) announced that it will run a five-year
project aimed at transforming the lives of some 1,200 disadvantaged
children in two of Burkina Faso's towns, Bobo-Dioulasso and Hounde.

Under the project, UNV teams will counsel street children, juveniles and
other marginalised youth on educational and vocational options that can
improve their prospects, UNV announced on Friday. Emphasis will also be
placed on psychosocial help, UNV said. The volunteers will conduct an
information campaign to discourage exploitation of young women and
children, it added. So far, the project has received US $2.2 million from
Luxembourg and close to $300,000 in kind from the government of Burkina
Faso.

Based in Bonn, Germany, UNV was created in 1970 as the volunteer arm of
the UN system. It extends hands-on assistance towards peace and
development in 140 countries.

WEST AFRICA: UN agencies face $2.2 billion shortfall

The UN announced on Wednesday that it faces a shortfall of US $2.2 billion
which is threatening the work of its humanitarian agencies across the
globe.

The director of the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs,
Ross Mountain, revealed the information during a review meeting of the
Consolidated Inter-agency Appeals Process (CAP). The CAP is a yearly
fund-collecting mechanism to finance humanitarian projects. Mountain said
agencies needed "timely, flexible, and unearmarked contributions" so to
allow them to work based upon needs rather than available resources.

The 2001 CAP was launched in November to fund programmes for some 33
million people worldwide. In West Africa, the bulk of the funding will go
to projects in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

WEST AFRICA: ADB financial aid

The African Development Bank loaned US $16.76 million this week for the
development of the Gambia River Basin and for the completion of
feasibility studies, the ADB announced this week.

The Organization for the Development of the Gambia River Basin received
$14.81 million to be used to boost agro-forestry ad pastoral output,
rationalize the use of natural resources and improve social
infrastructures in areas located in the borders of the four member states,
Gambia, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau and Senegal. It would also go towards the
management of forest areas and development of plains and marshlands to be
used for rice and vegetable crops.

Burkina Faso received $1.15 million to conduct a rural electrification
study which will help the government map out electrical coverage
nationwide. The completed study will also help the government to mobilise
private sector funds for the electrification project.

The remaining $800,000 went to Mali to finance the feasibility study of
the Phedie and Sabalibougou irrigation projects. With food security as the
ultimate goal, the irrigation project could generate an additional
production of 30,000mt of rice and more than 6,000mt of vegetables for
residents, the bank said on Tuesday.


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