U N I T E D   N A T I O N S
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WEST AFRICA
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 228
30 May - 4 June 2004


CONTENTS:

LIBERIA: Bryant pleads for end of sanctions regime
SIERRA LEONE: War-crimes tribunal begins trial
NIGERIA: Obasanjo given sweeping powers in Plateau
COTE D'IVOIRE: Aids drugs prices drop, EU money for health sector
TOGO: Government sells cheap maize to depress high prices


LIBERIA: Bryant pleads for end of sanctions regime

Gyude Bryant, the Chairman of Liberia's transitional government, on
Thursday pleaded to the UN Security Council to lift an embargo on diamond
and timber exports to help the struggling country rebuild its shattered
economy after 14 years of civil war.

Bryant told the Council members that the logging industry used to provide
over 7,000 jobs in Liberia and once contributed 20 per cent of government
revenues. It also generated about half the country's foreign exchange
earnings, he noted. The Liberian leader also urged the lifting of the ban
on Liberian diamond exports, saying his government had made progress
towards restoring control over the industry. He pointed out that, like
logging, diamond mining had once been a major source of employment and
foreign exchange revenue in Liberia.

Jacques Klein, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary General in
Liberia, supported Bryant's plea for economic sanctions to be lifted in a
separate address to the Security Council, saying the country was in
critical need of reliable resources of revenue to overcome its present
dependence on foreign aid.

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


SIERRA LEONE: War-crimes tribunal begins trial

The UN-backed Special Court for Sierra Leone begun on Thursday begun the
trial of people deemed primarily responsible for war crimes and human
rights abuse committed during Sierra Leone's 10-year civil war.

The first three individuals to stand trial for committing atrocities
during the 1991-2001 conflict were former officials of the Civilian
Defense Force (CDF), a civilian militia group which fought alongside
President Tejan Kabbah's army against the rebels of the Revolutionary
United Front (RUF). They included Sam Hinga Norman, the National
Coordinator of the militia movement, who went on to become Interior
Minister; Moinina Fofana, and Alieu Kondewa, the group’s high priest. But
the trial was dismissed following a letter presented to the Court by
Norman dismissing his defense team. It is to resume on Tuesday.

A second separate trial of three RUF leaders, Issa Hassan Sesay, Morris
Kallon and Augustine Gbao, is due to begin on 5 July.

The international court has so far indicted 13 people of whom two have
since died. The remaining nine accused are currently in custody, but court
officials have hinted that other indictments may follow.

One of the indicted is former Liberian President Charles Taylor who last
week demanded immunity from prosecution. But on Tuesday, the court
rejected the appeal. International pressure forced Taylor out of office
last year, and he is now living in exile in Nigeria.

While pressure has been made on Nigeria to send Taylor to Freetown to
stand trial, the Nigeria government has maintained that he will only be
handed over on request of the Liberian government. The chairman of
Liberia's transitional government, Gyude Bryant, has so far refused to act
on such demand.

For Sierra Leone please go to
http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Sierra_Leone


NIGERIA: Obasanjo given sweeping powers in Plateau

Nigeria's National Assembly on Tuesday approved eight new laws giving
President Olusegun Obasanjo sweeping powers in strife-torn Plateau State
where he imposed a state of emergency last month after a surge in
inter-ethnic and religious violence.

The laws approved by the two-chamber legislature gave the police and other
security services the power to detain people indefinitely, conduct
searches without warrants, impose curfews and ban public processions.

Obasanjo declared emergency rule in the central Nigerian state on 18 May
following a series of religiously-inspired massacres which threatened to
spread throughout the country.  He sacked the elected governor of Plateau
State and dissolved the state legislature. In their place he appointed a
retired army general as interim administrator for an initial period six
months.

For three years Plateau State's Christian majority and its Hausa-speaking
Muslim minority had been engaged in a series of tit-for-tat killings.
Often these attacks were inspired by disputes over farming and grazing
land as much as religious differences.

Nigerian human rights groups and other critics have charged that Obasanjo
exceeded his constitutional powers by sacking an elected governor and
legislature.

In other news, the leaders of rival Ijaw and Itsekiri ethnic militias
agreed to make peace in the Nigerian oil town of Warri on Tuesday, while
government officials urged foreign oil companies to resume operations
disrupted by fighting in the Niger Delta region during the last year. The
peace agreement struck between the Ijaw and Itsekiri militias crowned
efforts by Delta State governor James Ibori to end fighting between the
two communities over claims to land and oil-related benefits. More than
200 people have died in ethnic clashes in Delta State over the past year.

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


COTE D'IVOIRE: Aids drugs prices drop, EU money for health sector

The government of Cote d'Ivoire on Wednesday announced plans to slash the
price of anti-retroviral (ARV) treatment for thousands of people living
with AIDS with the help of a US$14 million grant from the United States.

Health Minister Albert Mabri Toikeuse said the government aimed to provide
ARV therapy to 77,000 people living with AIDS at a cost to the patient of
just 20,000 CFA francs (US$40) per year.  That is less than people living
with AIDS in Cote d'Ivoire currently pay for just one month's ARV
treatment. Toikeuse announced the new measure on Wednesday in the presence
of US envoy Randall Tobias, the head of President George Bush's
US$15-billion project to combat the HIV/AIDS pandemic in 14 African and
Caribbean countries.

Patients will now only be required to pay 5,000 CFA francs ($10) for a
three-month supply of ARV drugs. Until now, even those lucky enough to
benefit from subsidized treatment have been paying six times more.

The price cut is part of a new policy that includes free HIV testing for
those who volunteer, free ARV therapy for pregnant mothers and children up
to five years old, a new subsidized 2,500 CFA franc ($5) consultation fee
for people seeking treatment for infectious diseases, and the opening of
more HIV testing centres and health clinics specially equipped to treat
AIDS-related illnesses.

According to official government statistics, Cote d'Ivoire has an HIV
prevalence rate of 9.5 percent. Cote d’Ivoire’s first HIV case was
detected in 1985.

Meanwhile The European Union provided a grant of 3.5 million euros ($4.2
million) to re-equip health centres in 25 war-affected districts of Cote
d'Ivoire, mainly in the rebel-held north of the country.

According to UNICEF, 80 percent of the doctors, nurses and midwives in
northern Cote d'Ivoire have fled since the country plunged into civil war
in September 2002. Drugs and equipment have been looted from hospitals and
health centres and the system for monitoring the outbreak of epidemics has
been paralyzed, it said in a statement.

The health centers are to benefit from vehicles, mopeds, computers,
medical kits, and essential drugs, such as antibiotics and painkillers and
specialist treatments for malaria and de-worming, along with several
thousand mosquito nets impregnated with insecticide for malaria
prevention.

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


TOGO: Government sells cheap maize to depress high prices

The government of Togo is selling 2,000 tonnes of maize direct to the
public at fixed low prices to curb a steep rise in the West African
country's staple food following the late arrival of the annual rainy
season. The release of cheap fixed price maize by the government was
widely welcomed, but there were fears that speculators would stop ordinary
people from benefiting from the move. The cheap maize released by the
government went on sale on Wednesday at a fixed price of 235 CFA francs
(44 US cents) per bowl of 2.5 kg.

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


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