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 317
11 - 17 February 2006


CONTENTS:

NIGERIA: Bird flu suspected in five more northern states
NIGERIA: Army trades fire with militant groups in Niger Delta
NIGER: Dead birds raise fears of bird flu
COTE D'IVOIRE: Top UN official meets with authorities after anti-UN
   violence
WESTERN SAHARA: Tens of thousands of refugees homeless after rains wipe
   out shelters
BENIN: Refugees flee camp after clashes with villagers
CAPE VERDE: Incumbent president claims election victory


NIGERIA: Bird flu suspected in five more northern states

Health authorities in Nigeria began investigations into possible cases
of bird flu in five more northern states on Tuesday as international aid
and experts arrived to fight the spread of the deadly H5N1 virus.

Health Minister Eyitayo Lambo said tests are being conducted on samples
taken from poultry in Nasarawa and Niger states near the Nigerian
capital Abuja, as well as in Katsina, Yobe and Jigawa states near the
frontier with northern neighbour Niger Republic.

"If confirmed, the new cases will show that the first outbreak of the
H5N1 disease in Africa has now spread through most of the north of the
country and entered the Niger River Basin," Lambo told reporters in
Abuja.

Africa's first cases of the virus were confirmed last week in poultry
farms in Kaduna, Kano and Plateau states.

International health experts from the Food and Agriculture Organisation
(FAO), the World Health Organisation (WHO) and the World Organisation
for Animal Health (OIE) have begun arriving in Nigeria to help
authorities halt the spread of the virus.

In addition to US $25 million pledged by the United States, the
International Finance Corporation - the private lending arm of the World
Bank - has also announced a US $50 million concessionary facility to
help Nigeria deal with the bird flu emergency.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51710

See also:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51739
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51680
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51686


NIGERIA: Army trades fire with militant groups in Niger Delta

An army helicopter gunship on routine patrol in Nigeria's turbulent
Niger Delta region exchanged fire on Friday with militants active in the
oil-rich zone, military officials said.

A joint army, navy and air task force charged with maintaining security
in the southern oil-producing region said in a statement on Friday the
helicopter returned fire when it was shot at by armed men the military
said were shielding a barge siphoning crude oil from a pipeline.

It was the second army strike on alleged smuggling barges in three days.

The militant group Movement for the Emancipation of the Niger Delta
(MEND), which claims to fight for local control of oil wealth in the
impoverished region, said it was the group trading fire with the
Nigerian army.

The incident came one day after residents in the Niger Delta area said
an army helicopter strike on Wednesday had injured several people,
leaving six unaccounted for and presumed dead.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51783


NIGER: Dead birds raise fears of bird flu

The death of at least 400 chickens, turkeys and geese in Niger - which
shares a 1,500-kilometre border with bird-flu-infected Nigeria - has
government officials scurrying to prevent the spread of the deadly
virus.

Niger authorities banned the importation of all poultry and poultry
products, reinforced border patrols and launched a public awareness
campaign, after the H5N1 virus was confirmed in Nigeria. The discovery
of the dead birds near the town of Magaria in Niger's southern Zinder
region days later prompted the government to reinforce its efforts and
ask for international help with testing for the virus.

On Wednesday Niger's national committee for the fight against bird flu
announced it has drawn up a 2.2-billion CFA franc (US $3.9 million)
emergency programme it will submit to the government. Like many African
countries, in order to finance its fight against the virus Niger will
have to turn to the international community.

In addition to the bird remains found in the southern Zinder region, on
Tuesday some dead swallows were found in the town of Garanke Day in
Dosso, just 150 kilometres from the capital, Niamey, according to
sources in Dosso.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51763


COTE D'IVOIRE: Top UN official meets with authorities after anti-UN
violence

The UN's top humanitarian official Jan Egeland is in war-torn Cote
d'Ivoire seeking assurances from authorities that January's anti-UN
violence will not be repeated and that ringleaders of the attacks will
be punished.

"To those who have carried out criminal behaviour - attacking
humanitarians or civilians - we are coming with a message that
stimulating violence or attacking has to be punished," the UN
Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs said in the main city
Abidjan on Wednesday.

"They have to be arrested - that's criminal behaviour under national and
international law," Egeland said, after meeting with Ivorian minister
for foreign affairs, Youssouf Bakayoko.

Egeland said the UN is committed to continuing humanitarian operations
in the country, where UN agencies are currently assisting one in five of
the country's 17 million population.

Egeland arrived in Cote d'Ivoire on Tuesday to meet with Ivorian
leaders, including President Laurent Gbagbo, and humanitarian partners.
Before leaving the country on Friday, Egeland is scheduled to travel to
the rebel stronghold of Bouake and to the western town of Guiglo, where
pro-Gbagbo militants looted and torched UN facilities during four days
of violence in January, forcing UN peacekeepers and aid workers to flee.

"I have received assurances from the government that this will never be
repeated and that the government has taken a number of actions to
prevent such an event in future," Egeland said. "This is good new for
us, because we don't want to leave Cote d'Ivoire - we want to stay and
continue our effective actions for all the Ivorian people."

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51733

See also:
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51684
http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51740


WESTERN SAHARA: Tens of thousands of refugees homeless after rains wipe
out shelters

Aid agencies are rushing to help some 60,000 Western Sahara refugees
after freak rains late last week wiped out houses and schools and
damaged hospitals in camps in eastern Algeria.

Because the rains - reportedly the worst seen in the area since 1994 -
came on the heels of the UN World Food Programme's February
distribution, refugees have lost an entire month's food supply, a WFP
official told IRIN on Wednesday.

"Heavy, concentrated rains [at the end of last week] basically melted
houses, administration buildings, the Red Cross building and schools,"
said Michelle Iseminger, head of WFP's office in Tindouf, Algeria. Aid
workers say flooding also severely damaged hospitals and markets.

"[Refugees] had just received their monthly distribution," she said.

It is estimated that more than 150,000 Sahrawis - people from the
disputed territory of Western Sahara - have lived in five refugee
settlements near Tindouf since 1975; it is not clear exactly how many
are currently in the camps. UN humanitarian agencies are assisting some
90,000 of the most vulnerable refugees.

The UN refugee agency UNHCR said the rains destroyed up to 50 percent of
the mud brick houses in Awserd, Laayoune and Smara camps, leaving
another 25 percent of shelters "seriously damaged and on the verge of
collapse." A fourth settlement was also severely damaged.

Using its own emergency funds, WFP will begin a one-month distribution
to replace the food destroyed by the rains. But the agency says the
refugees' new plight will put a burden on already strained food aid
resources for the Sahrawi refugees.

"This makes WFP's needs tremendously more urgent," Iseminger said.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51750


BENIN: Refugees flee camp after clashes with villagers

Thousands of Togolese refugees have fled the Lokossa camp in Benin after
fierce clashes with local residents in which 29 people were hurt, some
by gunfire, local officials told IRIN on Friday.

"We are doing everything we can to bring people back and to calm the
situation," said Rafik Saidi, regional representative for the UN refugee
agency UNHCR.

The clashes that erupted on Thursday appeared to stem from longstanding
tension between local people and the refugees. Camp administrator
Richard Honou told IRIN that 26 Togolese refugees and three Beninese
citizens had been injured, some by bullets and machetes.

An IRIN correspondent at the camp said the entire population of 9,300
refugees had deserted the camp, which was without water and electricity.

"The camp looks almost deserted," said a local official who asked not to
be identified.

"UNHCR, the authorities, traditional leaders and religious leaders are
all working together to restore confidence and calm," Saidi said.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51779


CAPE VERDE: Incumbent president claims election victory

Cape Verde's incumbent President Pedro Pires on Monday claimed victory
in his campaign to win re-election as head of state of the cluster of 10
islands and five islets off the West African coast that are home to less
than half a million people.

Voting took place in the former Portuguese colony on Sunday and
preliminary results on Monday gave the incumbent president a narrow lead
of 51.1 percent of the vote. In a victory speech, Pires promised to
fulfil campaign commitments, including a pledge to tackle poverty and
unemployment.

"I want to reaffirm here my commitment to the men and women of Cape
Verde, my commitment to keeping all the promises I made in this election
campaign, and to guarantee all the conditions to ensure Cape Verde has
stability and wins always. Cape Verde should always win!" said Pires on
Portuguese television.

Full report: http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=51682


IRIN-WA
Tel:+221 867.27.30
Fax: +221 867.25.85
Email: IRINWA@IRINnews.org


- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Appropriate Donations for International Disaster/Humanitarian Needs
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
Center for International                  web: www.cidi.org
     Disaster Information             listserv: www.cidi.org/listsub.htm
                                    guidelines: www.cidi.org/donate.htm
- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -
West Africa                      www.cidi.org/humanitarian/irin/wafrica