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 191
30 August - 5 September 2003


CONTENTS:

LIBERIA: Fighting continues amid troop reinforcement
COTE D'IVOIRE: COTE D'IVOIRE:  Senior military officers arrested over 
   alleged coup plot
MAURITANIA: Over 30 soldiers to face trial
NIGERIA: All girls must wear scarf, says Kano State
WESTERN SAHARA: Polisario releases 243 Moroccan prisoners


LIBERIA: Fighting continues amid troop reinforcement

Fighting between the Liberian army and rebel movements broke in central
Liberia this week, forcing over 50,000 people, including already displaced
people, to flee the area in search of a safer haven further south.

The fighting broke out in Gbatala, pushing people towards neighbouring
small towns of Salala, Kolela and Totota, located on the road that leads
to the capital Monrovia. In Salala, the new arrivals crowded in an
existing internally displaced camp, tripling its population from 30,000 to
90,000.

On Thursday, West African peacekeepers sent a patrol from Monrovia up the
road to Totota to try and restore confidence among the frightened
civilians.

The office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees on Thursday sent
trucks to Salala carrying plastic sheets, water and high-protein biscuits
provided by UNICEF and various NGOs.

The government and the Liberians United for Reconciliation and Democracy
(LURD) traded accusations over who was responsible for this latest
fighting, even though a peace agreement has been signed in Ghana on 18
August.

The fighting took place amid a troop reinforcement of West African
peacekeepers as a contingent of 150 Gambians landed in Monrovia. Last
week, 500 soldiers from Mali and Senegal, also arrived in the war-torn
country, while Togolese soldiers are due in by the end of the week. The
West African peacekeeping force now has 2,000 men and is expected to reach
its full strenght of 3,250 soldiers in the next few weeks.

The World Food Programme announced on Monday that it had begun stocking
400 tonnes of corn soy blend and sugar into Monrovia to meet immediate of
an emergency feeding programme of 50,000 malnourished children.

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


COTE D'IVOIRE:  Senior military officers arrested over alleged coup plot

The news of an alleged plot to kill Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo and
other high government officials continued to make waves this week and
several senior military officers were detained for questioning.

The government prosecutor, Ange Bernard Kessi told a press conference in
Abidjan on Wednesday that that 11 military men and seven civilians were in
custody, including General Alain Mouandou, the controller-general of
police and General Soumaila Diabakate of the defence ministry.

On 25 August, the French government announced that it had arrested in
Paris 11 men in connection with a plot to topple the government.
Subsequently in Abidjan, authorities begun to arrest people- as many as 50
as at last Friday- in connection with the attempted overthrow, but dozens
have since been released. Those released include General Abdoulaye
Coulibaly, a key player during Cote d'Ivoire's December 1999- October 2000
military junta that ruled the country after the first coup d'etat in
December 1999.

Master-Sergeant Ibrahim Coulibaly, commonly known as "IB" in Cote
d'Ivoire, is among those detained in France. He has been named as the
ringleader of the coup plotters.

Kessi said on Wednesday that the plot included the assassination of
President Gbagbo and his wife; Mamadou Koulibaly, Speaker of the National
Assembly; army chief of staff General Mathias Doue and several other
military and civilian senior officials. The plot also included the
destruction of the De Gaulle and Houphouet bridges, Abidjan's two vital
bridges.

According to Kessi, those found guilty could be sentenced to life in
prison.

After three weeks of government recess, President Gbagbo convened on
Thursday a cabinet meeting with the hope that Prime Minister Seydou
Diarra, who some of Gbagbo's ruling party accused of conniving with the
coup plotters, would propose names for the ministries of defence and
security. The two posts are currently occupied ad interim by the ruling
party and the opposition Rally of the Republicans.

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

MAURITANIA: Over 30 soldiers to face trial

More than 30 Mauritanian soldiers, including some senior officers, are
expected to be charged for involvement in a failed June coup d'etat,
diplomatic sources told IRIN this week.

However the two suspected ringleaders have fled the country.  On Tuesday,
Al-Jazeera TV broadcast a recorded videotape of the two men in which they
announced the formation of an organisation called the Knights of Change
and urged members of the Mauritanian armed forces to join the group with
the aim of bringing about a "peaceful democratic transformation" to the
country.

In the month of August, Mauritanian authorities released Muslim clerics,
opposition leaders and other political activists it had arrested since
late April. Some were arrested for fuelling religious extremism in the
Islamic country, while were detained for questioning over the 8-9 June
failed coup d'etat.

On Wednesday, Human Rights Watch welcomed the release and urged the
government of President Maaouiya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya to stop harassing
opposition members as a climate of fear and harassment would hinder the
holding of fair and free presidential elections due on 7 November.

Six candidates, including Taya have announced that they will compete in
the November polls.

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

NIGERIA: All girls to wear Muslim scarf, says Kano State

Kano State, in northern Nigeria, announced on Friday that it was making it
mandatory for every girl attending state-run schools to wear the hijab
Islamic headscarf, whether or not she is Muslim.

The decision in this already religiously sensitive state has pitted the
Christian minority against the Muslim majority. While Musa Abdusalam of
the Christian Association of Nigeria said, "we cannot be forced to live
like Muslims," the state commissioner for education said the order was an
attempt by the state government to uphold public morals and ensure "the
teachings of Islam are applied in each and every aspect of governance."

The measure does not apply to private schools or schools run by the
Federal Government.

Kano has a history of violent religious clashes and is among 12 states in
Nigeria's predominantly Muslim north to have adopted strict Islamic or
Shari'ah law in the past four years.

Nigeria's population of more than 120 million is almost evenly divided
between Christians, who live mainly in the south, and Muslims, who
dominate the north. Tensions between the two religious communities have
led to periodic bouts of violence since several northern states adopted
Shari'ah law following the country's return to elected civilian government
in 1999.

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

WESTERN SAHARA: Polisario releases 243 Moroccan prisoners

The Polisario Front released on Monday 243 Moroccan prisoners who were
captured at the height of the war with Morocco. The men were repatriated
to Morocco by the International Community of the Red Cross.

The release was announced in mid-August and was welcomed by the United
Nations.

The ICRC said in a statement that Polisario had released 946 Moroccan
prisoners in several batches since January 2000, but still held 914 since
the war officially ended in 1991.

The UN and ICRC, once again, urged the release of all remaining prisoners.

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


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