Weekly Round-Up - IRINWA-195: 03-Oct-03
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 195
27 September - 3 October 2003
CONTENTS:
LIBERIA: UNMIL takes over from ECOMIL
COTE D'IVOIRE: Protestors burn four vehicles in Abidjan
SIERRA LEONE: Yellow fever kills 10
GABON: Press freedom deteriorating - CPJ
GUINEA: Opposition to resume dialogue with government
NIGER: Government suspends 15 radio stations
NIGERIA: Fuel prices rise again
GUINEA-BISSAU: Interim government named
CHAD: UN refugee agency to return to N'djamena
LIBERIA: UNMIL takes over from ECOMIL
The newly created 15,000-strong United Nations Mission in Liberia (UNMIL)
took over peacekeeping duties in Liberia on Wednesday from the much
smaller 3,500-strong West African Peacekeeping Mission (ECOMIL). The West
African forces were turned over to UNMIL Force Commander General Daniel
Opande who had recently served in neighbouring Sierra Leone.
Discussions are going on to beef up UNMIL to full strength, Jacques Klein,
the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in Liberia said.
However a shootout between rebels of the Liberians United for
Reconciliation and Democracy (LURD) and government troops in the capital,
Monrovia, renewed the tension in Liberia, ahead of the installation of a
transitional government on 14 October.
Sporadic gunfire could be heard throughout Wednesday night in Monrovia, as
rebels and government fighters who earlier engaged in a shootout in the
eastern suburbs of the city, went on a looting spree. UNMIL, in its second
day of operation, however stepped up troop presence, deploying more men
and armoured cars on the city's outskirts. They set up checkpoints where
vehicles were thoroughly checked.
The two groups shot at each other on Wednesday, after a convoy carrying
LURD Chairman Sekou Damate Conneh to meet Interim President Moses Blah,
was blocked by an angry crowd. A scuffle ensued as LURD fighters attempted
to clear the road. Government troops arrived at the scene and the fight
started.
On Thursday, Blah told reporters Conneh had planned a coup against his
government. LURD on the other hand said Blah had planned to assassinate
Conneh. Nine people were killed.
Conneh returned from exile in Guinea on 23 September to prepare to take
part in the new government that takes office on 14 October. Diplomats said
they hoped this week's incident would not affect the installation of that
government, to be led by businessman Gyude Bryant.
Meanwhile, former Liberian president Charles Taylor's army commander,
General Benjamin Yeaten sneaked out of Liberia on Sunday amidst mounting
calls for his trial in connection with the murder of two deputy ministers
in June.
John Yormie and Isaac Vaye, who were Taylor's deputy ministers of national
security and public service, went missing in June. Their families accused
General Yeaten of murdering the two ministers for alleged involvement in a
failed coup against Taylor. On 22 September, the widows of the two
ministers wrote to the Liberian Attorney General demanding General
Yeaten's arrest and trial for murder.
Besides being linked to Yormie and Vaye's murder, General Yeaten was the
principal suspect in the brutal murder of opposition leader Samuel Saye
Dokie along with his family member in December 1997 five months into
Taylor's presidency.
For IRIN coverage of Liberia go to:
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Liberia
COTE D'IVOIRE: Protestors burn four vehicles in Abidjan
Four vehicles were burnt on Thursday when thousands of pro-government
demonstrators took to the streets of Cote d'Ivoire's commercial capital,
Abidjan, to protest against the continued occupation of northern Cote
d'Ivoire by rebels. They said this was contrary to an agreement signed in
France in January.
Wearing T-Shirts bearing orange, green and white colours of the Ivorian
flag with slogans reading: "We are tired", "Disarmament is the priority",
the protestors grabbed drinks from street vendors as they made their way
from the city suburbs to Place de la Republique near President Laurent
Gbagbo's offices. Charles Ble Goude, self-styled youth leader called for
the resignation of Prime Minister Seydou Diarra.
Last week, rebels pulled out of the government of national reconciliation
government and the disarmament process. They retreated to their base in
Bouake in the centre of the country and renewed a call for Gbagbo to quit.
The country plunged into war on 19 September last year when mutinous
soldiers who failed to topple the government, started a rebellion. They
seized control of the northern half of the country and have since retained
control there.
In Bouake, a stampede that followed a bank robbery on Thursday last week,
left 23 people dead. French troops calmed down the situation later. It was
the first time the French, who arrived on a peacekeeping mission in Cote
d'Ivoire following coup attempt, had deployed in rebel-controlled areas.
Meanwhile the World Food Programme warned that thousands of civilians
living in western Cote d'Ivoire need food aid while others in the east and
north, are facing difficulties accessing food due to economic hardships
that have resulted from the political crisis in Cote d'Ivoire.
It said villagers in western Cote d'Ivoire especially around Man, Danane
and Mahapleu were facing the peak of a lean period and had appealed for
food assistance.
For IRIN coverage of Cote d'Ivoire go to:
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Cote_d_Ivoire
SIERRA LEONE: Yellow fever kills 10
Some 10 people died of yellow fever while another 90 cases were reported
in eight districts in Sierra Leone. The Ministry of Health and Sanitation
said most of the cases were from the northern Tonkolili district. The
World Health Organisation said on Tuesday it was planning a mass
immunization campaign and had provided 100,000 doses of vaccines in August
in four of 11 chiefdoms in the district.
Yellow fever is a viral disease that used to cause epidemics in Africa and
the Americas. Infection causes a wide spectrum of symptoms ranging from
mild to severe illness and death. It is caused by a virus.
For the full story go to:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36936&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=SIERRA_LEONE
GABON: Press freedom deteriorating - CPJ
The state of press freedom in Gabon is deteriorating, the US-based
Committee to protect Journalists (CPJ) said on Monday. In a letter to
President Omar Bongo, the journalists' watchdog said that authorities in
the West African country recently banned two private newspapers and
renewed the suspension of a third which they believe were critical of the
authorities.
On 17 September, it added, police seized the third edition of the
satirical bi-monthly "Sub-Version" at the airport in the capital,
Libreville. They detained four of the paper's staff and questioned them
for several hours.
Gabon, a former French colony, has been led by Bongo since 1967. An
oil-rich country of just 1.2 million people, Gabon's oil and timber wealth
give the sparsely populated country a per capita income of more than US
$4,000, one of the highest in Africa.
For the full story go to:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36914&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=GABON
GUINEA: Opposition to resume dialogue with government
Seven of Guinea's opposition political parties this week said they would
resume dialogue with the government following a meeting in which the
government agreed to look into their grievances such as lack of access to
state radio and television. Interior Minister Moussa Solano had initiated
the dialogue to level the political ground in the country, ahead of
presidential elections in December.
Two committees were set up during a meeting on Monday to look into
opposition demands. Opposition spokesman Jean Marie Dore said: "We decided
to return to the dialogue because of the government's renewed commitment
to meet their demands".
Guinea is gearing up for elections in which ailing President Lansana Conte
will seek a further seven-year term.
For the full story go to:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36899&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=GUINEA
NIGER: Government suspends 15 radio stations
Niger's Higher Council for Communications (CSC) withdrew the broadcasting
licenses of 15 private radio stations, saying their owners had failed to
comply with Niger's laws. It said in a statement on Sunday that it had
stopped the stations because their licenses were granted unilaterally by
its President Mariama Keita. Keita, it added, had been suspended for two
months to pave way for investigations into her activities.
"The interested parties are directed to immediately suspend their
transmissions and to contact the CSC to ensure their conformity with the
regulations in force," the Council said. Media watchdogs were outraged.
"Just what is happening at present in Niger? A journalist has been jailed
for the past two weeks and now radio stations are suspended!," RSF
Secretary-General Robert Ménard said in a letter to the government.
Niger's media associations condemned the suspension of the stations as
"arbitrary" and intended to "curb the right to information".
For IRIN coverage of Niger go to:
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Niger
NIGERIA: Fuel prices rise again
Fuel prices in Nigeria rose on Wednesday, prompting threats of crippling
general strikes from the country's labour unions. Before Wednesday's price
rise, long queues of vehicles had built up at filling stations across the
country as speculation grew of government intention to abolish
price-fixing in favour of market-determined fuel prices.
President Olusegun Obasanjo in a speech to mark 43 years of independence
said: "Fellow Nigerians, our reform programme will entail sacrifice...but
this sacrifice will have manifold returns."
However key trade unions grouped under the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC)
accused the government of being indifferent to the harsh economic
conditions the policy was likely to create for Nigerians, 70 percent of
who live on less than one dollar a day.
Meanwhile the Nigeria Air Force warned the government and the public of
the dangers posed by tonnes of disused bombs kept at one of its bases in
central Nigeria, if they are not urgently and safely disposed.
"The bombs have become unstable and when they're unstable you can't
predict them," the force said. Munitions experts say the bombs in Makurdi
are not only larger in quantity but also of a higher calibre than those
that exploded in Lagos.
In another development, the Nigerian police on Friday returned 116
children brought into the country to provide cheap labour to the
neighbouring Benin Republic. Police chief, Tafa Balogun, also handed over
five suspected traffickers who were said to be specialised in smuggling
children from Benin into Nigeria, in a ceremony at Seme, the main border
crossing point between the two countries.
For IRIN coverage of Nigeria go to:
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Nigeria
GUINEA-BISSAU: Interim government named
The military junta that seized power in Guinea-Bissau on 14 September
swore in businessman Henrique Rosa on Sunday, to lead an interim civilian
administration until fresh presidential elections within one year. The
junta signed an agreement with 22 political and civil society groups,
setting up a 56-member National Transition Council to serve in place of a
parliament until legislative elections are held after six months.
General Verissimo Seabra Correia, the armed forces chief of staff who led
the coup to topple former President Kumba Yala, remained chairman of the
transition council. Yala's departure was welcomed by the people of
Guinea-Bissau because he had run down the country.
On Friday, news reports said a new cabinet had been named, consisting of
11 ministers and five state secretaries. It included both civilians and
military members
For IRIN coverage of Guinea-Bissau go to:
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Guinea-Bissau
CHAD: UN refugee agency to return to N'djamena
The United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR), which closed its offices in
Chad in 2001, reported on Friday that it was going to reopen offices in
the capital, N'djamena and in the south and the east to help 100,000
refugees there. The refugees include 41,000 from Central African and a new
influx of 65,000 from Darfur region, western Sudan.
On Thursday, UNHCR launched a supplementary appeal for US $16.6 million to
assist the Sudanese refugees, who it said had been living under desperate
conditions. However between now and the end of this year, UNHCR urgently
needs $6.2 million to provide shelter, health services, water and
sanitation to the refugees in the remote border locations.
For the full story go to:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36983&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD
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