Weekly Round-Up - IRINWA-326: 21-Apr-06
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 Round-Up 326
15 - 21 April 2006
CONTENTS:
CHAD: Idriss Deby, a president under siege
CHAD: Weary of corruption, Chadians divided in support for rebels
COTE D'IVOIRE: President and Prime Minister in disarmament standoff
LIBERIA: HIV/AIDS infection rate rising rapidly
NIGERIA: Delta militants' car bomb kills two at military base in oil
city
SENEGAL: Armed assailants hijack UN vehicle
CHAD: Idriss Deby, a president under siege
Chad President Idriss Deby came to power in a 1990 coup after marching
westwards from Sudan and ousting the very man he had helped bring to
power. Fifteen years on it is Deby whose position is in peril from the
westward march of rebel fighters.
Deby's time in office has been marked by repeated rebellions, dubious
political reforms, and rows with donors over Chad's new oil wealth.
President Deby has survived more rebel attacks this month and maintains
that presidential elections on 3 May - in which he will be running after
doctoring the national constitution - will go ahead as planned. His
opponents have warned that extending Deby's reign will plunge the
country and the region into chaos.
See also:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52842&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD-SUDAN
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52822&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD
CHAD: Weary of corruption, Chadians divided in support for rebels
As Chad prepares for presidential elections on 3 May IRIN finds the
capital N'djamena's residents desperate for a peaceful poll, fast losing
patience with the incumbent President Idriss Deby, but divided in their
support for the rebels.
Life has returned to normal in N'djamena, Chad's dusty low-rise capital,
after attacks by anti-government rebels forced most residents to cower
at home last week. But few think the fighting is over, and the slightest
disturbance will see the shops hastily shuttered, touts vanish from
street corners, and people again dashing for cover.
Chadians are divided on whether the rebels, should they manage to
dislodge Deby, would have anything better to offer. Mahamat Mbodou, 22,
a shopkeeper in the city centre, said he thought last week's fighting
was "terrible", but he still applauded when the rebels arrived because
"I'm angry with the President. Everyone is against him but he still says
the people are behind him". But others, like fruit-vendor Abakar Zenaba,
25, say that violence is not the answer even though she has friends and
relations who have signed up with anti-Deby groups.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52912&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD
COTE D'IVOIRE: President and Prime Minister in disarmament standoff
Cote d'Ivoire's President Laurent Gbagbo and Prime Minister Charles
Konan Banny appear to be locked in disagreement over the thorny issue of
disarmament, the main stumbling block to holding presidential elections,
according to statements made over the weekend and on Tuesday.
Last week key players meeting under African Union mediation agreed that
a programme for disarmament of rebels and pro-government militia could
run alongside an identification programme for up to 3 million
disenfranchised Ivorians. That consensus looked to have removed two
major obstacles to elections before the end of October.
But Gbagbo, who gave the thumbs up to simultaneous identification and
disarmament back in February, appears to have changed his mind insisting
on Sunday that the New Forces rebels holding the northern half of the
divided nation must hand in their guns before any voter cards can be
issued.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52845&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE
See also:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52911&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE
LIBERIA: HIV/AIDS infection rate rising rapidly
Liberia's new peacetime government is alarmed at the rapidly rising rate
of HIV and AIDS infections, which is now a "serious problem", according
to President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
During Liberia's 14 years of brutal warfare, guns and mortars were used
alongside sexual violence and rape to terrorise, intimidate and control
the civilian population. The UN estimates that 40 percent of all women
and girls were raped during the war. Today, the fighting has stopped and
security is provided by 15,000 UN peacekeeping troops from 46 countries.
In the past, soldiers from West African states served as peacekeepers in
Liberia too.
According to Sirleaf, the presence of large numbers of soldiers has
added to the AIDS problem. "We have peacekeeping forces in this country,
and they have been here many years of our conflict. They come from areas
where the infection rate is much higher. Our sexual behaviour,
contribution and interactions with those who come with the peacekeeping
forces, all increases the incidence of AIDS. So today we are feeling the
effect," said Sirleaf.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52882&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=LIBERIA
See also:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52841&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=LIBERIA
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52861&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=LIBERIA
NIGERIA: Delta militants' car bomb kills two at military base in oil
city
A car bomb detonated inside a military barracks in the Nigerian oil
centre of Port Harcourt, killed two people and injured several others,
military authorities said on Thursday.
The militant Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta (MEND) has
claimed responsibility for the car bomb, marking a new dimension in an
already violent campaign that has slashed Nigerian oil exports and
pushed up global prices.
MEND said in a statement emailed to reporters it had set off the car
bomb by remote control. "This act was symbolic rather than strategic and
serves as a further warning to the Nigerian military, oil companies and
those who are attempting to sell the birthright of the Niger Delta
peoples for a bowl of porridge," the group said in the statement.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52889&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=NIGERIA
See also:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52863&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=NIGERIA
SENEGAL: Armed assailants hijack UN vehicle
Armed men made off with cash and vehicles, including one belonging to
the UN's Children's Agency UNICEF, after staging a highway robbery in
the troubled Casamance region of Senegal.
The UNICEF vehicle, and another belonged to the state electricity
company SENELEC, were taken on Friday morning and recovered shortly
after by Senegalese police. The attack took place some 45 km north of
the principle Casamance city of Ziguinchor on the main road to The
Gambia and on to the Senegalese capital Dakar. Nobody was injured.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52821&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=SENEGAL
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