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WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 171
12 - 18 April 2003


CONTENTS:

COTE D'IVOIRE: Western areas under fire
LIBERIA: ICGL concludes Mano River mission
SIERRA LEONE: TRC begins hearings
NIGERIA: Nigerians to return to polls
GHANA: State of emergency reimposed in Dagbon
BURKINA FASO: Donor funding for health plan 

COTE D'IVOIRE: Western Cote d'Ivoire under fire

This week in Cote d'Ivoire was marked by a spate of fighting in several
western towns which Ivorian rebel groups and other sources blamed on
helicopter gunships belonging to the government. The government denied the
accusations, saying that its positions had been attacked, forcing it to
counter-attack.

Only partial casualty figures were available. A number of people were
injured after Danane and Mahapleu, two western towns, were bombarded.
Scores of survivors were being treated at a hospital in the western town
of Man, but eight died, according to Medecins sans frontieres. Various
sources said that several other western localities, including Daloa,
Vavoua, and Zouen-Hounien had been the scene of fighting this week.

These towns are located in volatile western Cote d'Ivoire where the
situation has been complex since November 2002 due, among other factors,
to the fighting itself, the emergence of two rebel groups and the presence
of armed elements from neighbouring Liberia.

Danane was the first to experience fighting and came on the heels of a
presidential address calling to a cessation of all hostilities. Throughout
the week, the fighting did not stop. According to media sources, the town
of Daloa, further inland, was the scene of fighting on Thursday, while the
government - which includes representatives of both rebels and state - was
in Abidjan holding its weekly cabinet meeting.

Thursday's cabinet meeting stood out as the week's positive note since it
marked the first time since its formation that the government of Prime
Minister Seydou Diarra had gathered in full in the economic capital,
Abidjan. On previous occasions, the government had met in the absence of
ministers representing the country's three rebel groups. The rebels had
hitherto cited security reasons for not going to Abidjan. However this
week, the ministers, who occupy nine posts in the new government, made the
trip to Abidjan to take up their posts.

France, Cote d'Ivoire's former colonial power who in the first weeks of
the conflict sent a military contingent to protect its nationals and stop
an escalation of fighting, condemned the renewed fighting but expressed
satisfaction at the cabinet meeting. Paris called on all parties engaged
in the fighting to cease all hostilities and give a chance to peace.

In other developments, Belgium on Thursday joined Canada and the European
Union in supporting a national civil society project. The European nation
agreed to give 60 millions FCFA to the project whose total cost is valued
at 395 millions FCFA. Canada had previously contributed 70 millions FCFA
and the EU had donated 150 millions FCFA. [US $1 = about 600 FCFA]

For IRIN's coverage of Cote d'Ivoire please go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa

LIBERIA: ICGL concludes Mano River mission

A mission of the International Contact Group on Liberia (ICGL), an
international body of experts mandated to help bring about a peaceful
resolution of the Liberian conflict, said on Tuesday that no date had been
fixed for peace talks between the government of President Charles Taylor
and the rebel Liberian United for Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD).

The delegation concluded a one-day consultative mission, as part of a tour
of the Mano River countries to Liberia, where the delegation met with
Taylor on the evolving situation in the country. The visit also included
meetings with the LURD, registered political parties and civil society
organisations.

In related news, the ICGL selected former Nigerian head of state General
Abdulsalami Abubakar to facilitate any eventual peace talks.

The high-level visit came amid continued insecurity in Liberia where,
according to Defence minister Daniel Chea, fighting between the government
and LURD fighters took place in the southeastern town of Sinoe. The Sinoe
fighting had triggered a massive displacement of people towards Grand
Bassa County, farther west. The minister also reported that dissident
forces had taken full control of the Liberia-Guinea border.

For IRIN coverage on Liberia, please go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Liberia

SIERRA LEONE: TRC begins hearings

Sierra Leone's Truth and Reconciliation Commission, a public forum to air
grievances suffered during the country's civil war, began its public
hearings on Monday in the capital Freetown.

The commission, which is expected to hear more than 700 people between now
and July, has collected more than 6,000 written statements on abuses
committed during the war, which began in 1991 and was officially declared
over in January 2002. The hearings will be divided in four categories:
individual witness hearings, thematic hearings, event-specific and
institutional hearings.

The TRC is an independent organization that was created by the Lome Peace
Agreement of 7th July 1999. It was established by an Act of Parliament on
10th February 2000. Its mandate is to create an impartial historical
record of violations and abuses of human rights and international
humanitarian law related to the armed conflict in Sierra Leone; to address
impunity; to respond to the needs of victims; to promote healing and
reconciliation and to prevent a repetition of the violations and abuses
suffered.

For IRIN's complete story please go to
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=33535&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=SIERRA_LEONE


NIGERIA: Nigerians to vote in new president

Millions of Nigerians were expected to return to the polls on Saturday to
choose who will preside over their country for the next four years.

The presidential election comes one week after legislative polls whose
partial results give victory to the party of incumbent president Olusegun
Obasanjo. Obasanjo has been in power since 1999.

Tension rose this week as Obasanjo's main challenger, Muhammadu Buhari,
warned of mass protests if the poll was not free and fair. Obasanjo in
turn said his government would not tolerate any public disorder, adding
that any direct appeal for action against the government would be
"reprehensible and unfortunate," BBC quoted Obasanjo as saying in a
statement.

For IRIN's coverage of Nigeria please go to 
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Nigeria

GHANA: State of emergency reimposed in Dagbon

Ghanaian President John Kufuor on Thursday extended a state of emergency
in the Dagbon Traditional Area, northern Ghana, two days after his ruling
New Patriotic Party (NPP) failed to secure the required 101 votes in the
200-member parliament to do do.

The measure had been imposed in the Dagbon traditional area in March 2002
following the murder of the Dagbon king Ya Na Yakubu Andani and 29 others
in a chieftaincy dispute between two factions.

In spite of several positive developments in the area, particularly, a
recent declaration by the two factions in favour of a peaceful resolution
of the Dagbon crisis, "there are still very delicate issues to be
addressed", according to a presidential statement issued on Thursday.
These include the burial of the late king, the reconstruction of the
palace and the subsequent installation of a new king, it said.

For IRIN's coverage of Ghana please go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Ghana

BURKINA FASO: Donor funding for health plan

Burkina Faso's main donors have agreed to provide US $123 million for the
implementation of its 2003-2010 National Health Development Plan (PNDS,
French abbreviation). The announcement came at the end of a one-day
roundtable organised on Tuesday at the request of the government, which is
seeking funds to cover a deficit of $200 million in the PNDS. The total
cost of the plan is $1.81 billion.

The PNDS' priorities include acting on HIV/AIDS, decentralising health
services, improving national sanitary coverage and developing human
resources so that Burkina Faso can meet WHO standards. Only 20 percent of
the 12 million Burkinabe attend health centres and there is one doctor for
20,000 persons whereas the WHO's minimum standard is 1:10,000. People walk
up to 8.5 kms to reach a health centre, according to official statistics.

For IRIN's coverage of Burkina Faso please go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Burkina


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