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 336
24 - 30 June 2006


CONTENTS:

AFRICA: China and Africa - For better or for worse?
MAURITANIA: Voters embrace pro-democracy reforms
NIGERIA: Media harassment on the rise ahead of presidential elections,
   rights group
SUDAN-CHAD: Chadians look for refuge in volatile Darfur
AFRICA: World's troubles may steal the show at AU summit
GUINEA-BISSAU: Undertaking measures against cholera


AFRICA: China and Africa - For better or for worse? Given China=92s
growing hunger for natural resources and Africa=92s persistent need for
economic aid, the world's most populous country and the globe's poorest
continent appear to be nurturing a perfect symbiotic relationship.

Or is it?
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54248&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=AFRICA


MAURITANIA: Voters embrace pro-democracy reforms

Some 96 percent of Mauritanians voted Yes to constitutional changes
meant to bring an end to military coups and paving the way for elections
next year.

Provisional results of the weekend referendum, released on Monday by the
Minister of the Interior, said that 76 percent of voters had turned out.

The changes put limits of two five-year terms on future presidents,
ensuring that power changes hands every decade in a country where the
last president remained in office for over twenty years.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54238&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=MAURITANIA


NIGERIA: Media harassment on the rise ahead of presidential elections,
rights group

Human rights groups say that media harassment is on the rise in Nigeria
following the arrest of two journalists charged with sedition after
publishing critical news reports about President Olusegun Obasanjo's
government.

Rotimi Durojaiye of the Daily Independent newspaper and Gbenga Aruleba
of Africa Independent Television were in an Abuja federal court on
Tuesday facing six counts of working "with intent to bring into hatred
or contempt or excite disaffection against the person of the president".

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54286&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=NIGERIA
rights group


SUDAN-CHAD: Chadians look for refuge in volatile Darfur

Insecurity in southeastern Chad has become so widespread that more than
11,000 people, fleeing militia attacks, have recently left their
villages to seek refuge in the western Sudanese region of Darfur, aid
workers say.

Since Chadian rebels based in Darfur started attacking government
strongholds late last year, Chad has pulled its cash-strapped army back
to protect key towns, leaving vast swathes of the border unprotected.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54299&SelectRegion=East_Africa,%20West_Africa&SelectCountry=SUDAN-CHAD


AFRICA: World's troubles may steal the show at AU summit

The African Union (AU) faces two key challenges during its annual summit
in Banjul this weekend, but they risk being overshadowed by the arrival
of two of the world's most talked about leaders.

Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Venezuelan President Hugo
Chavez are scheduled to attend the summit at the invitation of Gambian
President Yahya Jammeh.

All three leaders recently have clashed with the United States over
separate issues: Ahmadinejad over Iran's nuclear ambitions; Chavez over
oil; and Jammeh over his country's human rights record.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54311&SelectRegion=Global,%20West_Africa&SelectCountry=AFRICA


GUINEA-BISSAU: Undertaking measures against cholera

A surge in cases of watery diarrhoea has raised concerns of an impending
cholera outbreak in the crumbling capital Bissau.

The Health Ministry has ordered the closure of all traditional wells in
the capital and urged the suspension of traditional ceremonies in an
effort to prevent large gatherings that might facilitate the spread of
disease.

http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=54327&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=GUINEA-BISSAU


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