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.ci


WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 113
02 - 08 March 2002


CONTENTS:

MANO RIVER UNION: Members countries agree on border security
MANO RIVER UNION: UNHCR mounts refugee operation, tackles sex abuse
LIBERIA: LURD wants peace talks, vice-president calls it a "joke"
SIERRA LEONE: Sankoh charged with murder
SIERRA LEONE: Hospital treats hundreds for free
WESTERN SAHARA: Polisario responds to Moroccan king
TOGO: Sunday's election put off
NIGERIA: Islamic group mounts campaign against UN conventions
NIGERIA: Obasanjo nominates new head of police
BURKINA FASO: Parliamentary elections postponed
THE GAMBIA: US lifts restrictions on bilateral assistance
WEST AFRICA: Bertini urges more aid for region
GHANA: US $1.5 million earmarked for bamboo industry
AFRICA: UNIFEM brings IT to women
GUINEA-BISSAU: President "imposes" new head of Supreme Court


MANO RIVER UNION: Member countries agree on border security

Ministers from Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone agreed on Thursday to
implement plans to strengthen security along their borders and revive
their long-dormant economic grouping, the Mano River Union, the Sierra
Leone News Agency, SLENA, reported on Friday.

The ministers of foreign affairs, security, internal affairs, defence and
justice ended their two-day meeting of the union's Joint Security
Committee, with a timetable to implement the security measures.

They called for a committee of legal experts, chosen by the justice
ministries to meet in Freetown, the capital of Sierra Leone, on 13 March.
That committee will develop mechanisms for handling dissidents threatening
the three governments, and submit a list of suspected dissidents residing
in each other's countries.

A Technical Committee of the joint security body was given the mandate to
implement the first phase of the deployment of a joint border and security
force along the common borders.

On 25 March, the Guinean and Liberian ministers of defence and security
will meet in Conakry, the Guinean capital. The two countries have recently
been blaming each other for supporting armed anti-government dissidents.
Both have denied the claim and relations had deteriorated to a low ebb.
The latest meetings are a sign that there could be a thaw.

Last week Moroccan King Mohammed VI organised a summit of the Mano River
Union in the capital, Rabat, to ease political tension that has pitted
Liberia against Guinea and Sierra Leone.

[Full text of Joint Security Committee statement on
http://www.sierra-leone.gov.sl/slnewspages.htm]

MANO RIVER UNION: UNHCR mounts refugee operation, tackles sex abuse

The UN Refugee agency UNHCR reported on Thursday it was mounting a
"complex operation" to handle the influx of refugees fleeing conflict in
Liberia, help thousands of Sierra Leonean refugees returning from Guinea
and Liberia, and relocate thousands more Sierra Leonean returnees staying
in temporary settlements to safe home areas.

The agency's effort started against reports that as over 10,700 Liberian
refugees had arrived in Jendema, on the southeastern border with Liberia
since early February, in the wake of renewed fighting between Liberian
troops and the armed opposition group, the Liberians United For
Reconciliation and Democracy.

The Liberian refugees are being relocated from the volatile border areas
to locations farther inland and to existing temporary settlements that
have housed Sierra Leoneans returning from Guinea and Liberia.

While the UN Security Council is contemplating options to better protect
refugees and internally displaced people following allegations of sexual
misconduct by some UN staff workers and others, UNHCR dispatched a senior
official, Kamel Morjane, to the region to get a "first-hand view of
efforts planned or now under way to strengthen the protection of children
in refugee camps" in West Africa. Morjane, who arrived in Conakry, Guinea,
on Tuesday, will conclude his visit this weekend in Sierra Leone. For
security reasons, he will not travel to Liberia, UNHCR said.

A report, issued last week by UNHCR and Save The Children-UK, accused UN
and local staff in charge of protecting refugees and IDPs of sexually
exploiting minors. The UN Council's propositions include the creation of
channels of communication to allow the refugees to raise complaints of
sexual abuse to senior officials.

LIBERIA: LURD wants peace talk, vice-president calls it a "joke"

Liberian Vice-President Moses Blah dismissed this week's offer by the
Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) that it was
willing to hold peace talks with the government as long as they excluded
President Charles Taylor. Describing it as "mischievous and misguided",
Blah said LURD's idea was a vain attempt to sow seeds of discord among
senior government officials.

"Anyone who wants to talk to me and not President Taylor must be joking,"
BBC reported Blah as saying.

On Wednesday, LURD spokesman Charles Bennie told IRIN that his group was
willing to hold talks with the goal of creating an interim government that
would provide basic needs and security for all of the country's citizens.
However, the group said, the talks would have to take place without
Taylor.

But the head of Taylor's National Patriotic Party, Cyril Allen, said the
dissidents should be listened to. "I think our government should be open,"
he said. Talking on the country's Pro-Taylor radio, he said, "some older
politicians among us" feel that the government should not encourage the
dialogue because previous governments had not acted similarly. "You saw
what happened to previous governments because they did not want to talk,,
Allen said.

Since 1998, LURD has been fighting to overthrow the Taylor government.
About a month ago, fighting had brought the group to within 47 km of the
capital.

Meanwhile, UNICEF announced plans to create "child-friendly spaces" in
newly established camps for IDPs in the country. The agency said the
effort was being undertaken so that children could experience "a degree of
normalcy amid the chaos unfolding around them". The friendly spaces "will
provide facilities for children to gather together to play, learn and
acquire life skills" and safe areas where mothers can care for their
infants. The agency's regional communication adviser for West and Central
Africa, Margherita Amodeo, told IRIN on Monday that a school and
recreational kits would be provided for the children. The school kit would
contain crayons, books, slates and teaching aids.

SIERRA LEONE: Sankoh charged with murder

Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader Foday Sankoh and several former
rebels appeared in court in Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, on Monday on
various criminal charges including murder, news organisations reported.

It was the first time Sankoh was seen in public since his arrest just
under two years ago.

The charges relate to an incident on 8 May 2000 when a peaceful
demonstration outside Sankoh's house turned bloody after his supporters
reportedly fired shots into the crowd killing 21 people. Sankoh was
detained by the authorities shortly afterwards and has been held at an
undisclosed location ever since. Justice Minister Solomon Berewa said on
BBC that he did not think Sankoh's court appearance would jeopardise the
peace process.

Sankoh's first appearance came three days after President Ahmad Tejan
Kabbah lifted the country's four-year state of emergency in preparation
for presidential and legislative elections scheduled to take place in May.
Kabbah said the improved security situation no longer warranted the
imposition of the state of emergency but warned that "law and order will
be maintained and maintained vigorously". The government declared the
state of public emergency following the restoration of Kabbah's government
in March 1998.

Sankoh's RUF is accused of committing many atrocities, including forced
limb amputations, murder and rape, during the decade-long war. The UN and
the government signed an agreement in mid-January allowing for the setting
up of a Special Court to prosecute those who committed serious violations
of international humanitarian and Sierra Leonean law during the conflict.

Meanwhile the country's Community Arms Collection and Destruction
programme was extended by two weeks until mid-March, the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest situation
report.

The programme, which was scheduled to end on 28 February, has so far
collected more than 7,000 weapons. Coordinated by the Sierra Leone police
force in conjunction with the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL), the
programme aims to gather lethal weapons, including shotguns, which were
not recovered by the recently ended government disarmament programme.
Under that programme, over 45,000 former combatants surrendered weapons to
the authorities between 18 May 2001 and January 2002.

SIERRA LEONE: Hospital ship treats hundreds

A volunteer hospital ship has given free medical treatment, including
performing over 500 surgical operations and another 1,700 dental
operations, OCHA reported in its latest situation update on the country.
The medical team, set to leave on 14 March, also assisted community health
teams in vaccination programmes targeting over 2,000 adults and children,
and offered training in sanitation, community health, carpentry, masonry
and welding

The Anastasia, along with two other Mercy Ships, is manned by non-salaried
professionals and equipped through donations. Mercy Ships is an
international, inter-denominational Christian organisation.

WESTERN SAHARA: Polisario responds to Moroccan king

One day after King Mohammed VI of Morocco declared that his country would
not give away "a single inch" of Western Sahara, the pro-independence
Polisario Front responded saying the king's statement was "a declaration
of war on international legality".

The king's declaration came at the end of a two-day visit to Western
Sahara, the territory that has been the subject of a 27-year dispute
between Morocco and The Frente Popular para la Liberacion de Sagui
el-Hamra y de Rio de Oro (Polisario Front). The visit, labeled a
"provocation" by Polisario even before it got off, was for Morocco a move
to reassert its claim on Western Sahara.

Morocco annexed Western Sahara in 1975 when the colonial power Spain,
pulled out. But Polisario declared that the area, over 260,000 sq. km, was
not part of Morocco and in 1975 started fighting for its independence. In
1976, Polisario proclaimed unilateral independence and named the region
the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic which was recognised by the
Organisation of African Union.

A cease-fire agreement in 1991 ended the fighting allowing the UN to
deploy a mission to help maintain peace, and organise a referendum in the
region. However, the UN has until now failed to organise the referendum
for several reasons, including disagreements on who would be eligible to
vote.

This week's positions came amid renewed UN efforts to solve the dispute.
Secretary-General Kofi Annan in February proposed four possible solutions
to the dispute - the resumption of the implementation of a settlement plan
without the necessary approval of both parties, the revision of the 2001
framework agreement proposed by his personal envoy James Baker, the
division of the territory between the two belligerents, and the withdrawal
of MINURSO, the UN mission in Western Sahara.

The UN Security Council, which in February extended MINURSO's mandate by
two months, is currently studying Annan's proposals.

TOGO: Sunday's elections put off

Togo's legislative elections that were due to take place on Sunday have
been put off, the government announced in a communique on Tuesday. No new
date was fixed for the polls.

The latest postponement followed a refusal by opposition members to join
the National Independent Electoral Commission, which was mandated to run
all election-related activities and whose membership was to consist of
ruling party and opposition members. February's revision of the country's
electoral code and the detention of opposition leader, Yaovi Agboyibo, are
the opposition's leading reasons for refusing to sit in the electoral
commission.

The government contends that Agboyibo's detention is not a valid reason
for the boycott, saying the opposition participated in the commission's
work for weeks while he was in detention.

Sunday's polls were meant to replace the 1999 legislative ballot boycotted
by the opposition parties on grounds that presidential polls held in June
1998 were rigged. Originally set for October 2001, the polls were then
postponed for lack of preparedness and financial constraints.

NIGERIA: Islamic group mounts campaign against UN conventions

An Islamic group in Nigeria launched on Monday a campaign to stop
ratification of a number of United Nations conventions on the grounds that
they are contrary to Muslim values.

The Supreme Council for Sharia said moves by President Olusegun Obasanjo
to get parliament to ratify the conventions covering human rights issues
were part of a "plot to destabilise our country through the United
Nations' covert campaign against Islam". The Sharia council specifically
opposes the Convention Against Cruel, Inhuman and other Degrading
Treatment or Punishment, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Discrimination Against Women, and the Convention Against Child Abuse.

It said the convention protecting women was aimed at eliminating religious
beliefs such as polygamy in order give women "full and unfettered equality
with men", while the one protecting children from abuse aimed to
"criminalise" parental efforts to discipline children through beating.

The government refutted accusations that Obasanjo, a Christian, was
mounting an anti-Islamic campaign with the UN as unfounded, since all the
conventions sent to the legislature for ratification were signed by
preceding military regimes, all headed by Muslims.

Several states in Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north have in the past
two years adopted strict Islamic law prescribing death for offences
including murder, armed robbery and adultery, and public flogging for
drinking of alcohol and pre-marital sex. Tension due to the introduction
of Sharia has resulted in frequent outbreaks of violence between Muslims
and Christians in several Nigerian cities.

NIGERIA: Obasanjo nominates new head of police

President Obasanjo nominated Adebayo Tafa Balogun as head of the country's
police after sacking Musliu Smith and other top brass of the force because
of the climate of insecurity created by the threats of a strike by junior
officers alleging poor conditions of service.

Smith's dismissal was announced on Wednesday after a meeting of the
National Council of State, comprising governors of Nigeria's 36 states and
presided over by Obasanjo. Six deputy inspectors-general of police were
also sacked. A shadowy group calling itself The National Union of
Policemen had circulated leaflets urging the rank and file to stop work
from 11 March. A one-day strike called by the police union on 1 February,
to press demands for payment of one-year arrears of allowances, was held
in 14 of Nigeria's 36 states, including the commercial capital, Lagos.

Their one-day action appeared to produce immediate results when Obasanjo
ordered the release of four billion naira (US $35 million) to meet the
welfare needs of the police.

Last week several embassies in Nigeria confirmed receipt of letters by an
anonymous group, claiming to represent the rank and file of the police and
the army, saying the safety of diplomats could no longer be guaranteed.

But Chief of Defence Staff, Admiral Ibrahim Ogohi said on Wednesday that
the diplomatic community could rest "assured of its security within the
country".

BURKINA FASO: Legislative elections postponed

Burkina Faso's parliamentary elections that were slated for 28 April were
postponed to 5 May because of low voter registration, the government
announced on Tuesday. Voter registration, which started on 28 December
2001 and was due to end on 6 March, was also extended to 20 March. Only
two million people had so far registered, out of an estimated four million
eligible voters, the government said.

Officials told IRIN that the registration of voters was also slowed by a
decision of the Independent Electoral Commission to forbid door-to-door
and collective registration of families by any family member using
documents. The commission took this measure to minimise fraud. Some 28
parties have registered to contest in the polls.

Meanwhile on Monday, the government announced that it has allocated US
$7.75 million to compensate families and victims of "political violence
and rights abuses" and promote national reconciliation. But some families
have refused the compensation. In 1999 a government body, in recommending
an annual remembrance day, identified close to 300 victims of rights
abuses, military vandalism and other administrative sanctions. Those who
have refused compensation include the families of former president Thomas
Sankara killed in 1987 and of journalist Norbert Zongo killed in 1999.

THE GAMBIA: US lifts restrictions on bilateral assistance

The United States lifted on Tuesday restrictions on bilateral assistance
imposed against The Gambia in 1994, paving way for a full normalisation of
relations and increased support from the US.

A statement from the US Embassy in the Gambian capital Banjul, said the
restrictions were lifted on 5 March, because "the US has determined that a
democratically elected government assumed office following presidential
elections in October 2001 and legislative elections January 2002".

The Gambia, with an estimated population of 1.3 million, has a per capita
income of US $330, earned mainly through agricultural exports and tourism.
In 2001, it received US $6.2 million in food aid and assistance to
democracy and human rights programmes from the US.

Relations with the US soured after a 1994 military coup that brought
President Yahya Jammeh into power, prompting the US to cut technical
assistance. Jammeh, however, won 55 percent of the votes in an election in
October 2001 which international observers said was free and fair.

WEST AFRICA: Bertini urges more aid for region

The World Food Programme's outgoing executive director, Catherine Bertini,
has urged the international community to continue to provide humanitarian
aid to West Africa, where years of war have affected the lives of
thousands of people.

At the opening of a WFP regional office at the weekend in Dakar, Senegal,
Bertini said that the survival of thousands of people, particularly in
Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone "depends on international assistance".
For these three countries, which have been most affected by war and
internal strife, she urged donors to provide the US $56 million that WFP
needs to carry out its programmes. The international community also needs
to assist affected populations in restarting their lives, as well as
rebuild infrastructures, she said.

After Cameroon and Uganda, Senegal is the latest of the UN agency's new
African regional offices. The new West Africa office, previously located
in Cote d'Ivoire, will cover operations from Cape Verde to Niger. Last
week's trip was Bertini's last official visit in the region as head of
WFP. In charge since 1992, she will be replaced in April by another US
citizen, James Morris.

GHANA: US $1.5 million earmarked for bamboo industry

The Ghana government earmarked about US $1.5 million for a local
nongovernmental body to develop the bamboo and rattan industry as an
alternate to the country's timber, the Accra mail reported on its website.

Lands and Forest Minister Kasim Kasanga announced this on Monday when he
launched the Bamboo and Rattan Network, Barnet, at the 12-day Ghana
International Trade Fair at La, in the capital Accra.

Bamboo, which has a short gestation period of five years, could replace
wood in building and construction, pulpwood, floor tiles, panel products
and furniture. Ghana's timber industry needs about four million cu.m. of
logs each year, Kasanga said, of which 2.5 million cu.m. are used
domestically and 1.5 million cu.m. exported. Barnet plans to develop
20,000 ha of bamboo annually and create 500,000 jobs within the next five
years.

AFRICA: UNIFEM brings IT to women

The UN Development Fund for Women (UNIFEM) announced the formation of a
global intermediate technology (IT) advisory committee that aims to give
women in Africa access to information communication technologies to
improve their livelihoods.

The Global Advisory Committee, made up of 12 experts including African IT
entrepreneurs, representatives from the private sector and the UN, will
work with UNIFEM on a programme to help bridge the IT gap in Africa. It
will focus on training for women in communication technologies, creating
business partnerships and accessing financial support, UNIFEM said. It
also aims to improve Internet connectivity and provide low costs Internet
access to make technology a part of everyday life for African women,
UNIFEM said.


GUINEA-BISSAU: President "imposes" new head of Supreme Court

Guinea-Bissau President Kumba Yala promised to allow the country's Supreme
Court to elect its own officers, but invoked strong protest from
opposition parties for imposing his choice to head the body, Lusa reported
on Thursday.

The country's top judge, Antonio Sedja Man, was appointed by presidential
decree and took office on Wednesday. It was at Man's inauguration that
Yala announced the court would soon be able to elect its own officers, as
guaranteed under the constitution.

The United Opposition, an umbrella of 10 parties, had called Man's
appointment a violation of the constitution, Lusa reported. Man was named
in replacement of another Yala appointee, Mario Lopes, who died in a
Senegalese hospital two weeks earlier.

Yala named Lopes as Supreme Court president in 2001 after unilaterally
dismissing and jailing the court's elected president and vice-president on
allegations of corruption. The two former judges, recently released to
await trial in Bissau, have denied the charges.


IRIN-WA
Tel: +225 22-40-4440
Fax: +225 22-41-9339
Email: IRIN-WA@irin.ci

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