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 313
14 - 20 January 2006


CONTENTS:

COTE D IVOIRE: Calm returns after four days of riots against UN, French
   peacekeepers
LIBERIA: Africa's first female president vows to deliver a better
   future
CHAD: Rebels admit 'friendly' ties with Sudan but deny receiving
   support
NIGERIA: Militants threaten to cripple oil exports if demands not met
BENIN: Citizens willing to dig into own pockets to fund election
LIBERIA: Recruitment drive for new army kicks off
WEST AFRICA: China tours region to boost strategic ties
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Foreign minister resigns over diversion of
   foreign aid


COTE D IVOIRE: Calm returns after four days of riots against UN, French
peacekeepers

Business resumed as usual with cars and taxis back on the streets of
Cote d'Ivoire on Friday after protesters demanding the departure of UN
and French peace troops called an end to four days of riots by lifting
roadblocks and going home.

Life returned to normal in the western towns of Daloa in the west and
the southwestern port city of San Pedro too, residents said.

Youths loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo had packed up and left the
entrance to the UN Mission headquarters building, said UN military
spokesman Gilles Combarieu.

Thousands of members of the Young Patriots movement loyal to Gbagbo
camped outside the hillside hotel used as UN HQ this week, pelting the
building with stones and tearing down the outer fence.

"Life returned to normal last night around 8 p.m," Combarieu said. "As
soon as the word was given, they left very, very quickly." he said.

On Thursday evening, as the UN Security Council met in New York to
discuss the situation in Cote d'Ivoire, Young Patriots leader Charles
Ble Goude told followers to dismantle barricades that had snagged roads
across the country's economic capital Abidjan since the beginning of the
week.

"We hereby wish to appeal to our friends in the various districts to
remove the barriers," said Ble Goude on Ivorian radio.

But after attacks on UN vehicles, compounds and offices across southern
Cote d'Ivoire, one UN official told IRIN staff were still waiting for
the green light to leave their homes or use UN vehicles.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51249&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE

See also:

19 January:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51233&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE
19 January:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51219&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE
18 January:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51208&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE
18 January:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51196&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE
17 January:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51169&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE
16 January:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51144&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE


LIBERIA: Africa's first female president vows to deliver a better future

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf placed her hand on the bible and took the oath of
office as Liberia's and Africa's first female president on Monday,
promising peace and restoration for the war-torn nation.

Sirleaf told the largest gathering of regional leaders and international
dignitaries to grace the capital since war broke out in 1989 that
Liberians must work together to put 14 years of conflict behind them.

"It is time for us to come together to heal and rebuild our nation - we
must put Liberians back to work again and we must put our economy and
financial house in order," said 67-year-old Sirleaf.

US first lady Laura Bush and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were
among the 1000-strong audience attending Sirleaf's inauguration as
Liberia's 23rd president in the parliament courtyard.

Sirleaf whipped retired international soccer star George Weah into
second place to become Liberia's peacetime president after polls
conducted late last year under the watchful eye of 15,000 UN
peacekeepers.

Allegations of fraud from the Weah camp initially clouded Sirleaf's
victory until regional heavyweights urged the football legend to
acquiesce.

Sirleaf has promised rapid, tangible action for Liberia's war-tired
population including restoring electricity to the capital within 150
days.

Corruption will be another key battleground for the former World Bank
official.

"Corruption under my administration will be the major public enemy, we
will confront it, and we will fight it," said Sirleaf, who was dressed
in cream with a matching traditional head-wrap.

And news that all officials appointed to her new government will have to
declare their assets before taking office was met with cheers.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51146&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=LIBERIA

17 January:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51162&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=LIBERIA


See also, Liberia: A chronology of 25 years of conflict and turmoil:

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51167&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=LIBERIA



CHAD: Rebels admit 'friendly' ties with Sudan but deny receiving support

A Chadian rebel leader on Wednesday said insurgents seeking to oust
President Idriss Deby have 'friendly' relations with Sudan and have met
on Sudanese soil, but are receiving no arms or other assistance from
Khartoum, as charged by N'Djamena.

Abdelwahid Aboud Makaye, a leader of the newly formed United Front for
Change and Democracy (FUC), said in an interview with Radio France
Internationale that some meetings sealing the group's formation in late
December were held in El Geneina in Darfur, western Sudan.

But he noted that this was in line with a political tradition between
the two neighbours under which successive Chadian rebellions had seized
power with some degree of support from Khartoum.

"FUC's relations with the Sudanese government are friendly - very
close," he said. "But this is not to say that the rebels are in any way
manipulated by Khartoum."

Chad and Sudan, both facing armed rebels on the home front, have long
accused each other of backing dissidents.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51203&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD

A general strike also added to discontent in Chad this week - their main
complaint the non-payment of civil servant wages and pensions.

16 January:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51138&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD


NIGERIA: Militants threaten to cripple oil exports if demands not met

Ethnic Ijaw militants claiming responsibility for a spate of attacks on
oil facilities in Nigeria's Niger Delta have threatened new raids to
cripple the country's oil exports if demands to free detained leaders
are not met within 48 hours.

Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location on Tuesday, a
spokesman for a militant group told IRIN they would hold on to four
foreign oil workers taken hostage last week failing the release of
militia leader Moujahid Dokubo-Asari, who is in government custody
pending trial for treason.

The oil workers were kidnapped last Wednesday in a raid on an offshore
oil platform run by Royal Dutch Shell in the Niger Delta region.

In addition to recent attacks on pipelines that triggered cuts in
Nigeria's oil exports, the militants claimed Sunday's attack of Shell's
Benisede flow station in which one oil worker was killed. The assault
forced the company to evacuate four platforms in the delta swamps.

"We maintain our demands that they should free Dokubo-Asari and other
Ijaw leaders in detention in 48 hours," Brutus Etikpaden, who claims
leadership of the new Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND),
told IRIN by phone.

"Otherwise we're going to attack oil installations and stop oil exports
from Nigeria," he added.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51166&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=NIGERIA

16 January:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51127&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=NIGERIA



BENIN: Citizens willing to dig into own pockets to fund election

Amid worries that a cash crunch could delay Benin's presidential
elections set for March, trade unions, concerned individuals and parties
across the political spectrum are digging into their own pockets to help
fund the poll.

One of the first to offer a donation was Albert Tevoedjre, Beninese
former head of the UN Mission in Cote d'Ivoire, who during a TV show
this month promised to contribute a million CFA francs (US $200,000) for
a special account launched by a group of NGOs called the Republican
Coalition for Citizens' Action (CRAC).

"This is a public action to save democracy," said Reckya Madougou, from
an NGO involved in the coalition.

And as CRAC launched its three-million CFA franc (US $600,000) election
support fund, 13 political parties from across the spectrum set up their
own coalition entitled "The Collective of Political Parties In Favour of
Holding the Presidential Election on Schedule."

"Benin's democracy is in danger," said Sylvain Akindes of the Alliance
for Democracy and Progress, which is close to President Mathieu Kerekou.
"Benin's future is at stake."

The president's second term as head of state is set to expire at the
beginning of April and he has promised to respect the constitution by
not seeking a third mandate.

But government claims late last year of a funding shortage for the
elections fuelled fears that the president would put off the vote. Even
trade unions joined the pro-election fight, with a newly formed
teachers' federation this month adding the following statement to their
charter:

"We are ready to go to prison to press our demands and to ensure the
elections are held on schedule."

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51235&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=BENIN


LIBERIA: Recruitment drive for new army kicks off

Queues of hundreds of young wannabe soldiers began forming from early
morning on Wednesday as authorities kicked off a countrywide recruitment
drive for Liberia's new national army.

Men and women aged over 18 massed at a former military barracks in
Monrovia to register to join the first national force to be set up, with
US help, after 14 years of civil conflict.

But before signing up, successful applicants will have to show they have
a clean human rights record and minimum education.

Liberia's 2003 peace accord, enshrined by this week's swearing-in of the
country's first post-war head of state, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf,
called for the restructuring of the armed forces, which fell into
disarray after the start of civil war in December 1989.

In 2003, the US government pledged US $35 million to recruit and train
the new military force of 2,000 men and women to be recruited and
trained by Dyncorp, a US-based company. Liberia had originally planned a
4,000-strong army but lack of funds forced a scale-back earlier this
year.

DynCorp, which specialises in security and aircraft maintenance
services, has been hired over the past three years by the US government
to train new police forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The firm said on Wednesday that the army would comprise new recruits and
former soldiers, but that volunteers would have to go through a vetting
process, including having completed minimum secondary education
requirements and being free of human rights abuses.

A Dyncorp statement said any allegation raised by the public against an
applicant would be thoroughly investigated.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51207&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=LIBERIA



WEST AFRICA: China tours region to boost strategic ties

China's foreign minister this week wound up a tour of West Africa,
sealing deals and promising millions of dollars for the region, where
the economic powerhouse has been increasingly active in recent years.

Over eight days Li Zhaoxing visited Cape Verde, then Senegal, Mali,
Liberia and Nigeria - armed with a new "win-win" Africa policy aimed at
reinforcing economic and diplomatic links with the continent, where
China's trade has quadrupled over the past five years.

The new strategic plan has been embraced by African political and
economic leaders who see in the superpower's own development experience
clear lessons for the continent.

"Africa has everything to gain in working with the country that is the
driving force of the world economy," said Moubarak Lo, former economic
advisor to the Senegalese prime minister, now head of an economic
consultancy firm in the capital, Dakar.

"This country that came out of poverty can bring a bit of a human touch
[to its relations with Africa] - I think China is sincere in wanting to
create a mutually beneficial partnership, based on its own model of
development, which vies with models of the World Bank or the
International Monetary Fund."

But some analysts warn that the boost for development might be bad news
for democracy. China has pledged its assistance "with no political
conditions" - the only prerequisite being support for Beijing's
one-China policy.

No conditions linked to human rights or democratic practices can mean
support to African nations with a less-than-sterling record, observers
say.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51240&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=WEST_AFRICA


SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Foreign minister resigns over diversion of
foreign aid

The foreign minister of Sao Tome and Principe has resigned after coming
under widespread criticism for spending nearly US $500,000 of aid from
Morocco without reference to other members of the government.

Meanwhile, a group of disgruntled police officers firing guns in the air
has seized the main police station in the capital to protest at unpaid
salaries and poor working conditions, according to the Portuguese news
agency Lusa.

Ovideo Pequeno, a close ally of President Fradique de Menezes, announced
his "irreversible" decision to resign on Monday. He told reporters that
the controversy surrounding his actions had led to "a climate of
breakdown" in relations between Menezes and the government.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51197&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=SAO_TOME_AND_PRINCIPE


IRIN-WA
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Fax: +221 867.25.85
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