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

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WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 190
23 - 29 August 2003


CONTENTS:

COTE D'IVOIRE: Wave of arrest in connection with coup plot
SENEGAL: Flooding expected along the Senegal River
LIBERIA: Fighting resumes
MAURITANIA: Muslim clerics and political activists released

COTE D'IVOIRE: Wave of arrest in connection with coup plot

The announcement by French authorities that they had arrested earlier this
week in Paris where a dozen people in connection with a plot to overthrow
the Ivorian government has led to a wave of other arrests in the Ivorian
capital, Abidjan, this week.

Those arrested included several members of the armed forces, including
General Alain Mouandou, the controller-general of the police, while
army-major Marcel Koffi M'bahia was taken from his home on Wednesday night
by unidentified men. On Thursday, General Abdoulaye Coulibaly, jailed in
2000 by the then-military regime for allegedly plotting to overthrow the
then-regime of late General Robert Guei, was arrested for questioning on
Thursday at the Abidjan airport upon returning from a trip in France

In France, 11 people were arrested, including Master-Sergeant Ibrahim
Coulibaly, more commonly known as "IB", a key figure in the 1999-2000
military regime; a Lebanese businessman residing in Abidjan; a handful of
French mercenaries, as well as the chauffeur at the Ivorian embassy in
Paris who was released on Thursday.

Accused of plotting to overthrow athe government, they have since been
questioned by a French anti-terrorism judge. French authorities justified
their arrest by citing an anti-mercenary law that came into effect in
April 2003.

While by Wednesday, the Ivorian government announced the arrest in Abidjan
of 20 individuals, French news agency, RFI, said that the number had
jumped to 50 by Friday.

The ruling party, the Ivorian Popular Front (FPI), has also added fuel to
the fire by explicitly accusing Prime Minister Seydou Diarra of conniving
with the alleged coup plotters. The FPI accusation came in the voice of
former Prime Minister Pascal Affi N'Guessan, who throughout the year-old
crisis had largely been seen as a "dove" amid the very hawk FPI.
N'Guessan, who lost his seat to Diarra as a result of the Paris agreement
in January 2003, also accused Alassane Ouattara, Cote d'Ivoire's first
prime minister, of being inside the conspiracy.

The announcement of the alleged coup plot coincided with the death on
Monday of the first two French peacekeepers. According to military
sources, the incident took place near the buffer-zone town of Sakassou,
300 km north of Abidjan, when "drunk" rebel fighters opened fire on the
men. One rebel fighter died in the exchange.

This week's events have heightened the distrust between the government and
the main rebel group, the Patriotic Movement of Cote. Both sides
counter-accused each other of sabotaging peace efforts in the war-torn
country.

While the MPCI has publicly disassociated itself from the coup plot, it
has however called for the urgent release of "IB".

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


LIBERIA: Fighting resumes

Liberia's recent full in fighting was shattered this week as fighting
resumed between the national army and rebel forces, causing thousands of
people to flee their homes.

The fighting resumed last week around the capital Monrovia and in other
towns further inland. As usual, the two sides traded accusations over who
sparked this latest round of fighting.

Humanitarian agencies, including United Nations agencies, who have slowly
begun to return to the country, warned this week that the new flare-up
could disrupt their activities, which most had suspended at the height of
fighting during the two and half months.

Interim President Moses Blah described the fighting as "madness", and said
he had asked West African peacekeepers in Liberia to put pressure on the
two rebels group- LURD and MODEL- to stop the fighting.

The resumption of hostilities took place as the UN Special Representative,
American diplomat Jacques Paul Klein, launched a regional tour of
Liberia's neighbours- Guinea, Sierra Leone and Cote d'Ivoire- where he
briefed the respective governments, UN agencies and the humanitarian
community at large of the challenges ahead for Liberia and to ensure. In
Guinea, he said it would take at least four years to reconstruct and bring
stability to the country.

The World Food Programme on Tuesday appealed for urgent food donations to
prevent half a million Liberians from going hungry. The appeal came as the
agency's first food ship arrived in Monrovia, carrying 2,300 tonnes of
assorted food supplies. The agency lost tons of food supplies it had
stocked for needy populations when its storage containers were looted
earlier this month.

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

SENEGAL: Water experts expect flooding

Water experts of the Organization for the Development of the Senegal River
(OMVS) announced on Wednesday that they expect the Senegal River, the
1,800-km long river which runs through Senegal, Mali and Mauritania, to
cause severe flooding. The experts however added that damages would not be
as great as in 1999 when the river burst its banks and caused massive
damage.

The organisation said it was looking at ways of diverting some of the
excess water into temporary lakes by the construction of dykes.

Water experts have attributed the excess water to the good rains brought
on by a warming of ocean water.

Thousands of people, farm crops, heads of livestock and socio-economic
infrastructures could be affected if the river outruns its bank. In
Senegal, the historical town of Saint-Louis would be the first one
affected because it lies at the mouth of the river.

OMVS urged authorities in Mali, Senegal and Mauritania to adopt durable
measures such as preventing people building houses in areas near the river
prone to seasonal flooding, building better drainage systems to channel
rainwater safely and improving the drainage of existing communities that
are at risk of inundation.

For IRIN coverage of the rainy season in the Sahel please go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Senegal
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=36054&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=West%20Africa

MAURITANIA: Muslim clerics and activists liberated

The Mauritanian government on Monday released 41 Muslim clerics and
political activists from prison, but kept charges of anti-state activities
hanging over them.

The men had been detained over the past four months on suspicion of
fanning religious extremism and opposition to the government of President
Maaouiya Sid Ahmed Ould Taya.

One day earlier the authorities also commuted the sentence and released
Chbih Ould Cheick Melainine, head of the now-banned Population Front
opposition party.

The successive releases came amid a tens political climate marked by a
pre-electoral campaign in which parties are gearing up for presidential
elections due on 7 November as well as tension between the State and the
country's religious community.

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


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