IRIN Update 510 for 25 Sep 1998

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 Central and Eastern Africa Tel: +254 2 622147 Fax: +254 2 622129 e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org

IRIN Update No. 510 Central and Eastern Africa (Friday 25 September 1998)

UGANDA: Alleged bomb plotters arrested

Uganda says it has arrested 20 people on suspicion of being involved in plans for follow-up bombings of the US embassies in Tanzania and Kenya. News organisations reported Minister of State for Security in the President's office Muruli Mukasa told a press conference late yesterday (Thursday) those arrested were members of a clandestine group known as the Federal Democratic Alliance. Mukasa confirmed the presence of several US FBI agents in the country which he said fell within the scope of "technical cooperation to fight terrorism". Mukasa said many of those arrested had confessed to having ties with Sudan.

DEMOCRATIC REPUBLIC OF CONGO: Summit supports Kabila

A central African summit, organised by Gabonese President Omar Bongo, ended late yesterday with a declaration of support for President Laurent-Desire Kabila. The meeting, also attended by Chad, CAR, Congo-Brazzaville, Equatorial Guinea, Cameroon, Angola and Namibia, condemned "aggression against DRC" and called for a withdrawal of all foreign forces.

CONGO-BRAZZAVILLE: Rwandan refugees

The government of Congo-Brazzaville has requested UNHCR to find another host country for some 11,000 Rwandan refugees presently in the country, Congo's Radio Liberte, monitored by the BBC, reported earlier this week. A UNHCR spokesperson told IRIN today (Friday) that UNHCR is "in discussion with the authorities on the subject." However, current insecurity and difficult access in much of the region are complicating efforts to find a more durable solution to the refugee issue, the spokesperson added. Unconfirmed reports say several hundred of the refugees have already crossed over the Congo river and joined Kabila's forces.

DRC-TANZANIA: Refugee population growing in west

Congolese refugees arriving in western Tanzania from eastern DRC appear weaker than those who crossed in early August when the influx started, humanitarian sources report. Some 183 refugees, mainly women and children from the Fizi/Baraka area of South Kivu, arrived in the Kigoma area on 23 September, according to UNHCR. Among them were 8 unaccompanied children. These refugees brought the total number of Congolese arrivals in Kigoma to 7,164 people since the beginning of August. There have also been 2,602 Burundian refugee arrivals in Kigoma during the same period.

SUDAN: Rebels say fighting near Juba

Rebels of the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) claimed yesterday they had engaged government forces close to the southern stronghold of Juba. An SPLA statement, released in Nairobi, said the rebels had ambushed an enemy platoon between Ngangala and Nesitu on Wednesday, an area about 28 km west of Juba. Meanwhile, Sudanese state radio quoted the official army spokesman, Abdul al-Rahman al-Khatim, as denying the reports and saying the army had also now gained control of the situation in Eastern Equatoria. He said the rebels had suffered heavy casualties, but gave no further details.

Floods said worse than 1988

Heavy floods have now affected 12 of Sudan's 26 states and in terms of people affected and damage to households and infrastructure, the situation is worse than in 1988 when the then-flooding was considered to have been of unprecedented dimension, OCHA said in its latest situation report. Yesterday's report said one million people were suffering from the impact of the floods, some 500 villages had been destroyed and the agricultural sector ravaged.

RWANDA: Kambanda hits out at ICTR

Former prime minister Jean Kambanda, sentenced to life imprisonment for genocide, has criticised the UN's International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda (ICTR) for failing to provide promised protection for his family. News organisations reported he sent a letter on 11 September to the clerk of the tribunal saying it had agreed in April to protect his exiled wife and two children. Kambanda was sentenced on 4 September for genocide and crimes against humanity. He has appealed the verdict.

KENYA: Leakey reappointed

World renowned conservationist Richard Leakey has been reappointed director of Kenya Wildlife Service (KWS), it was announced today. Leakey, who led the fight against ivory poaching, was fired by President Daniel arap Moi in January 1994 after a bitter dispute with senior members of the government resulted in him being labelled a "neo-colonialist". Leakey, 54, son of the palaeontologists Louis and Mary, is currently an opposition member of parliament. Leakey takes over from David Western, another white Kenyan, who was forced out last week.

UNITED NATIONS: Landmine workshop from 28-30 September in Kampala

A two-day UN-sponsored inter-regional workshop on "A Concerted Public Health Response to Landmines" opens in the Ugandan capital Kampala on Monday. The UN has initiated a process of needs assessment in the countries affected by mines which essentially relate to demining on the one side and the response to health consequences on the other.

Nairobi, 25 September 1998 14:30 GMT

[ENDS]

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Date: Fri, 25 Sep 1998 17:19:38 +0300 (GMT+0300) From: IRIN - Central and Eastern Africa <irin@ocha.unon.org> Subject: Central and Eastern Africa: IRIN Update 510 for 25 Sep 1998.9.25 Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.91.980925171526.5995A-100000@ocha.unon.org>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar, aadinar@sas.upenn.edu