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 174
26 April - 02 May 2003


CONTENTS:

WEST AFRICA: Security Council to visit the region
LIBERIA: Death of wanted criminal Bockarie
COTE D’IVOIRE: Ceasefire holding firm
TOGO: Olympio ineligible for presidency


WEST AFRICA: Security Council due in the region

A UN Security Council mission will begin a seven-country tour of West
Africa from 15-23 May to identify durable solutions to the
conflict-plagued region, the UN announced on Wednesday.

The mission will travel to Cote d'Ivoire, Ghana, Guinea, Guinea-Bissau,
Nigeria, Liberia and Sierra Leone with the aim of addressing armed
conflict and breakdown in governance that have raged in most of those
countries and disrupted, directly or indirectly, the lives of millions.
While it will seek to find linkages between the Ivorian and Liberian
conflicts and ways to work with both governments to end the fighting along
the common border, in Sierra Leone it will focus on the role that the UN
peacekeeping force has played in restoring peace in the once-troubled
country.

In the former Portuguese colony of Guinea-Bissau, the high level UN
mission will tackle the country's preparations for parliamentary elections
while addressing a governance crisis which has led to incessant government
changes and sacking of ministers.

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


LIBERIA: Death of wanted mercenary Bockarie

Liberian and Sierra Leonean governments confirmed this week the death of
Sam Bockarie, a Sierra Leonean warlord who became infamous for committing
atrocities during Sierra Leone's civil war and was wanted for war crimes
by the county's Special Court.

Sources and diplomats told IRIN on Thursday that Bockarie was killed on
Tuesday in the Liberian capital Monrovia, refuting earlier reports that
the wanted criminal was killed in a shootout while crossing into Liberia
from Cote d'Ivoire.

The news of Bockarie's death came on the day that the United Nations
extended sanctions, in place since 2001, on the Monrovia regime by another
year. The sanctions, inter alia, include a ban on timber exports, a ban on
the sale of uncertified diamonds, an arms embargo and a travel restriction
for key figures of the government and entourage of President Charles
Taylor. On Wednesday, the government blasted the sanctions as unfair and
double-standards meant to destroy the already war-torn country.

International efforts to end the conflict continued this week as the UN
and the Economic Community of West African States respectively deployed
missions to engage the government and various leaders on ways to stop the
fighting and bring the warring parties to a negotiation.

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

COTE D'IVOIRE: Ceasefire holding firm

Cote d'Ivoire's latest ceasefire, which was signed on 3 May between the
chief of staff of the armed forces of Cote d'Ivoire and a delegation of
the rebel movements, has for the most part held firm, despite reports of a
minor fighting in western Cote d'Ivoire.

The ceasefire aims at ending the fighting between the national army and
the three rebel movements and to create a joint military front, including
French and West African peacekeepers, against mercenaries and other hired
fighters who have been used on both sides of the conflict. The agreement
was signed in Abidjan following a meeting between Ivorian and Liberian
senior military officials.

On Sunday, the two signatories as well as the West African and French
commanders met in the central town of Tiebissou, a small town near the
frontline, to discuss "military details," precisely the disarmament of
irregular forces.  The parties agreed to meet on 18 May to begin active
discussions on disarmament.

In Abidjan this week, debates over who should hold the ministries of
security and interior continued as the political parties and the rebel
movements, who also occupy seats in the government, had still not reached
a consensus. These two posts are currently being held on an interim basis
by ministers representing the ruling Ivorian Popular Front and the
opposition Rally of Republicans. However it appeared that discussions
centered on a former army general and parliamentary leader for the
Democratic Party of Cote d’Ivoire (PDCI), General Gaston Ouessenan Kone.

In humanitarian news, the European Union on Thursday approved a US $6.5
million humanitarian aid package for the thousands of West Africans who
have been uprooted within Cote d'Ivoire and have fled to neighbouring
countries due to the Ivorian crisis. The funding, which came on the heels
of an international appeal launched by the UN for $85 million for Cote
d'Ivoire and its five neighbours, will target food and nutrition, health,
water, sanitation, shelter and logistics.

For IRIN coverage of Cote d'ivoire please go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Cote_d_Ivoire


TOGO: Olympio ineligible for presidency

The leader of the opposition Union of the Forces for Change (UFC),
Gilchrist Olympio, will not vie in next month's presidential elections
because he submitted invalid documents, Togo's Constitutional Court
announced on Tuesday in the capital, Lome.

The Court's decision was a ruling on an appeal filed by Olympio against an
earlier decision by the electoral commission that Olympio, son of Togo's
first president, filed an invalid certificate of residency and receipt of
tax payments.

The opposition leader on Thursday said his party would call for a campaign
of civil disobedience, news organisations reported on Friday. Already on
Wednesday, Lome witnessed some civil unrest as pro-Olympio supporters
attempted to block the city’s main street and partially burned a fuel
station.

Togo’s presidential election is due on 1 June with seven candidates
including incumbent President Gnassingbe Eyadema. Other candidates include
a former secretary-general of the Organization of African Unity, Edem
Kodjo;  Emmanuel Akitani of the Party of the Forces for Change (PFC);
Yawovi Agboyibo, a lawyer who heads the Action Committee for Renewal.

For IRIN coverage on Togo please visit
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Togo


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Fax: +225 22-41-9339
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