Weekly Round-Up - IRINWA-327: 28-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 327
22 - 28 April 2006
CONTENTS:
CHAD: "Dialogue first, elections after" say opposition
TOGO: Outward calm belies continuing problems
CHAD: Displacement crisis looming in south east
COTE D'IVOIRE: Bird flu strikes urban residential area
CHAD: World Bank set to release frozen oil funds
CHAD: "Dialogue first, elections after" say opposition
While besieged President Idriss Deby has hit the campaign trail ahead of
the 3 May poll, opposition parties are covering every bit of wall space
in the capital N'djamena with stickers demanding that the elections be
delayed until national dialogue has taken place.
Deby this month survived a rebel attack on N'djamena. Many of the
fighters were former government soldiers who have deserted Deby's army
in their droves since October.
"We do not have any illusions about Deby accepting a dialogue at this
time, but this is going to end with him accepting that demand
eventually," warned Dobian Assignar, vice-president of the Chadian
International Federation for Human Rights, closely aligned to the
political opposition.
"For now the objective is to prevent the elections taking place on 3
May," he added.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53019&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD
TOGO: Outward calm belies continuing problems
The flagstones hurled by protesters in pitched street battles against
security forces in Togo's capital, Lome, a year ago to the day have been
re-laid, but the troubles not yet quite put to rest.
The tiny West African nation saw weeks of protests and security
crackdowns following a disputed father-to-son succession, initially
supported by the military and then confirmed at the ballot box a year
ago in an election the opposition said was rigged. The violence claimed
between 400 and 500 lives, according to an inquiry by UN High
Commissioner for Human Rights Louise Arbour.
Today traders and residents bustle over the cracks in the repaired
pavement, going about their daily business, but the memories of the
tension surrounding President Faure Gnassingbe's election as new head of
state have not faded.
A youth who gave his name only as Akoua, meaning "Wednesday-born", said
he still dares not return to the Be quarter of town, a poor opposition
stronghold which saw some of the most heated demonstrations, for fear of
a repeat of last year's night time raids by security forces.
"I was visiting friends when we heard the gunfire, and the next thing we
knew soldiers burst into the house and we had to hide in the bedrooms,"
said the student, "I'm too scared to go back there."
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53020&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=TOGO
CHAD: Displacement crisis looming in south east
Hunger and militia attacks in the remote border areas of eastern Chad
have driven more than 11,000 Chadians to seek international assistance
and stretched resources meant for Sudanese refugees, according to aid
agencies.
According to the UN an estimated 50,000 Chadians are displaced in
eastern Chad, but until a recent wave of attacks on the government of
President Idriss Deby by rebel forces nearly all the internally
displaced people (IDP) had managed on assistance from friends and
family.
Since fighting surged two weeks ago the Chadian population has tripled
at an informal settlement close to a camp at Goz Beida, 150 km from the
Sudan border, according to Matthew Conway, spokesman for the UN refugee
agency UNHCR.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=52946&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD
COTE D'IVOIRE: Bird flu strikes urban residential area
Cote d'Ivoire has reported its first outbreak of the deadly H5N1 strain
of bird flu in a poor residential district of the main city Abidjan, the
World Organisation for Animal Health (OIE) said on Thursday.
Authorities are awaiting confirmation of the results from the main OIE
laboratory in Italy, however an OIE spokesman in Paris told IRIN "We can
consider that it's bird flu."
Tests carried out by the national laboratory for agricultural
development (Lanada) in Abidjan found H5N1 in seventeen birds, including
chickens, ducks and a sparrow hawk.
The cases came from two separate backyards in the populous and poor
residential neighbourhoods of Marcory and Treichville in Abidjan, the
OIE said.
"We are still waiting for the results, it has not been officially
confirmed," said Ivorian Minister of Animal Production and Fish
Resources, Alphonse Douaty, late Wednesday night in a statement. Douaty
said three telephone lines had been opened for questions and reports
from the population.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53027&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE
CHAD: World Bank set to release frozen oil funds
The World Bank is close to ending a six month spat by agreeing a
compromise deal that would allow President Idriss Deby to access more of
the country's oil revenues, sparking fears that the cash will be spent
on guns and not development projects as initially intended.
Under the new deal the government of Chad, which this month fought off a
rebel attack on the capital N'djamena, would be able to access 30
percent of oil revenues, compared to the previous limit of 10 percent,
on condition that the remaining 70 percent go on "priority poverty
programmes."
And the so-called "future generations fund" - a special account to guard
10 percent of oil income for future development projects - appears to
have been scrapped by the World Bank, too.
The change of tack by the World Bank follows a threat from the Chadian
government to stop pumping oil at the end of this month if a deal was
not reached to free up its frozen oil accounts.
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=53034&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD
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