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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Fax: +225 22-41-9339
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WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 222
17 - 23 April 2004


CONTENTS:

COTE D'IVOIRE: Political impasse persists, journalist still missing
BURKINA FASO: Alleged coup plotters sentenced
LIBERIA: 1,789 combatants disarmed, fewer guns turned in
MAURITANIA: Court upholds Haidalla’s sentence


COTE D'IVOIRE: Political impasse lingers, journalist still missing

Cote d'Ivoire's political impasse continues as 26 ministers, who quit
government on 25 March, continue their boycott, while a foreign
journalist, who disappeared from Abidjan a week ago, is still missing.

On Saturday, four opposition parties and the "New Forces" rebels will host
a memorial service for those who died on March 25, one of their five
pre-conditions before engaging talks with President Laurent Gbagbo over
the implementation of the Linas-Marcoussis Agreement and returning to
government.

A second gathering, which had been called by pro-Gbagbo supporters known
as "Young Patriots", was also scheduled to go on Saturday. But it was
called off for security reasons. The "Patriots" will hold their gathering,
meant to press for disarmament, on Sunday.

United Nations soldiers will back up Ivorian security forces in providing
security for Saturday's gathering.

UN Under-Secretary Jean-Marie Guehenno concluded a mission on Tuesday, at
the end of which he pressed for the parties to rejoin government and
appealed to both President Gbagbo and the parties to drop their
pre-conditions and re-engage dialogue. During his mission, Guehenno met
with members of the government, including Prime Minister Seydou Diarra,
and with the "New Forces."

A foreign journalist, Guy-Andre Kieffer, who taken from an Abidjan
shopping mall by men dressed in army clothing, has not been seen in
Abidjan since then.  The Ivorian police are still investigating. However
the media has reported that the man, an expert in commodities, has been
tortured to death by a group of people close to the regime of President
Gbagbo.

An international human rights team, who has been in Abidjan to investigate
circumstances around the deadly repression of the March rally, is to end
its mission this weekend.

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


BURKINA FASO: Alleged coup plotters sentenced

Army Captain Luther Ouali Diapagri, the alleged leader of a plot to
overthrow Burkinabe President Blaise Compaore, was sentenced to 10 years
in jail, while three conspirators received lighter sentences when their
11-day trial ended on Saturday.

Three other defendants received suspended sentences, while the remaining
six defendants, including opposition politician Norbert Tiendrebeogo, were
acquitted.

While Ouali admitted to the court that he had seriously considered
mounting a coup to depose Compaore, the evidence that emerged during the
trial indicated that Ouali and his comrades were ordinary soldiers
frustrated at their failure to claim back pay that they believed was owed
to them.

Eleven soldiers and civilians, including a protestant pastor, had been in
custody since their arrest last October.

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


LIBERIA: 1,789 combatants disarmed, fewer guns turned in

In its first week since re-launching a disarmament programme, the United
Nations has recorded nearly 1,800 former combatants but only 782 weapons
have been handed at the two cantonment sites opened so far.

This disconnection revived fears that many of the weapons used in
Liberia's 14-year war were being hidden or had been spirited away to
neighbouring countries.

Liberia's DDR programme started afresh last week after a four-month delay
to give time to the UN to better prepare the programme. Men, women and
children have turned up at the cantonment sites operating in the port city
of Buchanan and Gbarnga, in the north.  Additional sites, including one on
the outskirts of Monrovia, are due to open in the coming weeks.

The operating sites are mainly for LURD and MODEL fighters, while the
Monrovia site will cater mainly to fighters loyal to former president
Charles Taylor.

Among the disarmed, child-soldiers account for about 15 percent. During
the first week, 275 youths under the age of 18 reported for disarmament,
of which 37 were girls. 91 women have also demobilized.

Weapons surrendered included riffles, machine guns, rocket propelled
grenade launchers, mortars, pistols and hand grenades.

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



MAURITANIA: Court upholds Haidalla’s sentencing

Mauritania's Supreme Court upheld on Tuesday a verdict that former
president, Mohamed Khouna Ould Haidalla, the main challenger to President
Ould Taya in last November's elections, was guilty of planning a coup to
seize power immediately after the poll.

The conviction means that Haidalla is serving a five-year suspended prison
sentence and is stripped of all political and civil rights fro the next
five years.
 
The Supreme Court's decision represented the second blow this month to
Haidalla’s plan to come back into politics. Earlier this month, the
government rejected an application y his supporters lo legalise a new
opposition party. The party includes several prominent Islamic radicals.

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


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