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 131
06 - 12 July 2002


CONTENTS:

LIBERIA: Rebels ready to discuss ceasefire, fighting continue
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Outcry over opposition detainee's death
NIGERIA: UN Secretary-General begins two-day visit
NIGERIA: Women disrupt oil production
WEST AFRICA: Agencies appeal for funds
BURKINA FASO: Government induces rain to prevent drought
BURKINA FASO: European support for rural development
WESTERN SAHARA: 101 Moroccan prisoners repatriated
THE GAMBIA: Meningitis campaign under-way
COTE D'IVOIRE: FPI and PDCI top local council elections

LIBERIA:  Rebels ready to discuss ceasefire, fighting continues

The Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) rebel group
announced on Thursday that it was ready to consider, in principle,
"negotiations for a genuine ceasefire and to discuss the way forward" with
the government of President Charles Taylor.

The announcement came at the end of a four-day conference in Ouagadougou,
Burkina Faso, which saw the participation of the LURD, opposition parties,
the Liberian National Bar Association, the Press Union and other bodies.
The Liberian Leadership Forum, as it was called, aimed to offer an arena
for participants to voice ideas on ways to bring back peace to the
country.

The conference appealed to the new-born African Union, the UN, the EU and
the Mano River Union to endorse and support the establishment of an
international contact group comprising Burkina Faso, France, Nigeria,
Senegal, UK and the US to "assume international leadership in assisting
Liberians to attain peace", the final communique said.

No Liberian government representative attended the conference.

While the conference was going on fighting raged. The Liberian government
claimed on Tuesday to have retaken the town of Tubmanburg, northwest of
the capital Monrovia.

The fighting between the LURD and the Liberian army has intensified in the
last few months, prompting thousands of Liberians to seek refuge in
neighbouring countries.

UNHCR reported on Friday that the flow of Liberians into Sierra Leone had
slowed down in recent days to about 100-150 per day, from some 400 per day
last week. According to the agency, from 20 June- the date when the LURD
attacked Sinje- to 10 July, more than 8,800 Liberians and 2,300 Sierra
Leoneans returnees had crossed into Sierra Leone. In Guinea, more than
1,500 Liberians have crossed in the last two weeks.

Meanwhile journalist Hassan Bility and two companions- Ansumana Kamara and
Abubakar Kamara- will probably face a military court as the three have
been tagged "dissidents", a source told IRIN. President Taylor described
the men as "illegal combatants" thus ceasing all efforts by a civilian
judge to have the men appear in court. The justice ministry had up to this
latest development failed to produce the men in a court.

The three were arrested for "operating a LURD terrorist cell in Monrovia",
officials had said.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Outcry over opposition detainee's death

Last week's death of an opposition activist, who was jailed for plotting
to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea, has deepened the rift
between the opposition and the ruling party.

According to the opposition, activist Juan Ondo Nguema died on 5 July from
the effects of torture and ill-treatment received before and during a
trial which saw the conviction of about 65 opposition activists to long
prison terms for attempting to overthrow the government. Nguema had been
sentenced to over six years and eight months in jail.

The opposition National Resistance of Equatorial Guinea said Nguema's
death was part of a strategy to "annihilate the political opposition" and
called for the appointment of a United Nations Special Rapporteur on human
rights as the former was dismissed in April. Spain, Equatorial Guinea's
former colonial ruler, on Monday said the death needed to be investigated,
the Spanish daily El Pais reported.

The ruling Partido Democratico de Guinea Equatorial, in a statement on
Wednesday, denied the torture claims, saying that there was no attempt by
the government or prison authorities to subject detainees to repression
and harassment. It said that Nguema was hospitalised with pneumonia, a
liver abscess and anemia, conditions that grew worse despite a medical
treatment.

PDGE accused the opposition and international bodies of mounting an
international campaign to discredit the regime of President Teodoro Obiang
Nguema.

NIGERIA: UN Secretary-General begins two-day visit

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan arrived on Friday in Nigeria's capital,
Abuja, for a two-day visit that includes meetings with government, NGO and
UN officials.

Annan, who arrived in Nigeria from Sudan, was received in the presidential
wing of the Abuja airport by the Minister of the Federal Capital, Abba
Gana, and other senior state officials. He later held talks with the
Minister of State for Foreign Affairs Dubem Onyia. According to a
programme of activities released by the Nigerian authorities, he was also
due to meet President Olusegun Obasanjo, other top state officials,
representatives of UN agencies and leaders of civil society groups.

This is Annan's third visit to Nigeria in four years. A year ago he was in
Abuja for an international HIV/AIDS summit, where he unveiled his plan for
a global fund to combat the pandemic and other infectious diseases.

In 1998, the Secretary-General was in Africa's most populous country for
four days following the death of former de facto ruler Gen Sani Abacha. He
helped broker political compromises that paved the way for Nigeria's
return to democracy after more than 15 years of military rule.

NIGERIA: Women disrupt oil production

A stand-off caused by women protesters at a Chevron-Texaco facility
entered its fifth day on Friday with the women insisting on negotiations
with top management. More than 700 expatriate and Nigerian employees had
been trapped on the oil facility.

The women, from the nearby Arutan and Ugborodo communities, invaded the
Escravos export terminal on Monday to demand jobs for their children.
According to Nigeria local media, the number of women had swollen from 150
to about 2,000 women at the week's end. They had blocked the facility's
helicopter pad, oil storage area and the docks, while security forces had
been deployed to patrol the waters around the facility. The forces,
Chevron-Texaco said, were however under strict orders not to engage the
unarmed women.

As at 6 p.m. on Friday, IRIN was unable to confirm if any headway had been
made in the negotiations between the protesters and company officials.

Disruptions of oil operations are common in the Niger Delta, Nigeria's
oil-producing region, where impoverished local people accuse oil companies
and their government partners of neglect despite the huge oil wealth
pumped from their land. But this is the first such action taken
exclusively by women.

WEST AFRICA: Agencies appeal for funds

Four UN humanitarian agencies have appealed to the donor community to
increase funding targeted at the Mano River countries under the regional
CAP because of growing needs and concerns.

On 4 July, the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the World Health
Organization (WHO), the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) and the Office for the
Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) told donors in Geneva that
only a third of the money requested under the 2002 UN Consolidated
Inter-Agency Appeal (CAP) had been received.

Because of inadequate funding and continuing conflict, the organisations
told the donors that their capacities and abilities had been stretched to
the limit.

Among other things, UNICEF needed US $3.5 million and $8.6 million for
respectively Guinea and Sierra Leone; FAO needed $5.4 million for
activities in all three countries; WHO needed close to 4 million for drugs
and other needs, while more than $2 million was needed for OCHA's
coordination activities.

Meanwhile the UN High Commissioner for Refugees, asked donors for $10.4
million to cope with the recent population movement in the region. The
appeal for funding concerns primarily the recent displacement of Liberians
fleeing to neighbouring countries because of instability in Liberia.

BURKINA FASO: Government induces rain to prevent drought

Burkina Faso launched on Tuesday 'Operation Saaga', an initiative in which
planes are used to drop chemicals into the clouds to induce rain.

The country, one of West Africa's Sahel countries, has been experiencing
water shortages which threaten food security and other water-sensitive
activities, Minister of Agriculture and Water Resources Salif Diallo said
at the launching of the operation in the capital Ouagadougou. In addition
to Ouagadougou which so far this year had only received over 85 mm of
rain, 14 other provinces have been officially declared water-deficient.

It is the second time that the country resorts to such a technique, after
a successful first attempt in 1998. The chemicals used in 'Operation
Saaga' are salt-based and "environmentally friendly", officials said.
'Saaga' means rain in a local dialect.

BURKINA FASO: European support for rural development

The EU and France have agreed to fund rural development projects in
Burkina Faso under separate agreements with the West African country.

Five provinces in western Burkina Faso - Bale, Banwa, Houet, Mohoun and
Tuy - are to benefit from a five-year project under which the EU is to
provide 10.01 million euro (US $9.89 million) to promote rural empowerment
and economic activity for local development, strengthen the delivery of
social services and encourage sustainable management of natural resources.

The agreement was signed by Yves Jorlin, EU representative, and Burkina's
finance minister, Jean Baptiste Compaore. Its general objective "is to
fight poverty in these areas through sustainable development promotion and
disparities reduction," a joint communique issued on Thursday in the
capital, Ouagadougou, said.

France has offered Burkina Faso about $5.63 million for sustainable
development and poverty reduction projects in villages in the western
areas of Bobo Dioulasso and Banfora. Projects will cover cattle rearing,
child and maternal mortality, and HIV/AIDS.

Under an agreement signed on Thursday by Compaore and French Ambassador
Maurice Portiche, about $1.3 million is to be allocated to develop the
culture sector, including building and equipping museums, rehabilitating
historical sites, and supporting choreography, craft and other cultural
activities.

WESTERN SAHARA: 101 Moroccan prisoners repatriated

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Saguia el-Hamra and Rio de Oro
(Polisario Front) released another batch of 101 Moroccan prisoners, most
of whom were "sick and elderly" the International Committee of the Red
Cross (ICRC) said on Sunday. The ex-detainees were flown home from Tindouf
in Algeria aboard a chartered aircraft and handed over to Moroccan
authorities at the Inezgane military base near Agadir by the ICRC.

On Monday, UN Secretary General Kofi Annan hailed their release but
repeated his earlier appeal to the Polisario to release the remaining
1,260 Moroccans they were reportedly holding, some of whom have been in
detention for as long as 26 years. The ICRC too repeated earlier appeals
for the release of the remaining prisoners.

Polisario has fought for independence for Western Sahara since Morocco
annexed the territory after the Spanish colonial powers withdrew in 1975.
It released another 115 prisoners in January.

The UN deployed a force, the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in
Western Sahara (MINURSO) in the territory in 1991 after the two sides
signed a ceasefire agreement. But attempts to organise a referendum on the
future of the territory have since failed.

In April, the Security Council, which had also urged Polisario to release
all prisoners - saying Morocco had released all its prisoners; extended
MINURSO's mandate until 31 July to give more time to try and break the
impasse over the territory's future.

THE GAMBIA: WHO, UNICEF help in third meningitis vaccination drive

The Gambia's ministry of health, in partnership wit WHO and UNICEF,
started on Monday a two week vaccination campaign against meningitis. The
exercise would benefit from WHO and UNICEF donations in vaccine, syringes
and logistics.

The Gambia's last mass vaccination drive took place in 1997. According to
a source in the health ministry, the current exercise is "a preventive
step against meningitis rather than a response to any outbreak of the
diseases".

COTE D'IVOIRE: FPI and PDCI top local council elections

The ruling Front Populaire ivoirien and the former ruling Parti
democratique de Cote d'Ivoire (PDCI) came top of last week's local council
elections winning 18 departments each. The opposition Rassemblement des
republicains won 10 departments, while the party headed by former junta
leader General Robert Guei, UDPCI, was victorious in three departments.
The remaining seats, of the 58 that were up for election, were won by
independent candidates and coalition parties.

The provisional results, which were announced by the Commission National
Electorale, came amid accusations of fraud and vote-rigging by the main
opposition parties and from the ruling party. PDCI UDPCI have threatened
to appeal some of the results. Final results are expected on Tuesday.


IRIN-WA
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