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IRIN-WA Update 101-97 of Events in West Africa, (Wednesday) 10 December 1997
[As a supplement to its weekly round-ups of main events in West Africa, IRIN-WA will produce a daily synopsis of reports on the region. IRIN issues these reports for the benefit of the humanitarian community but accepts no responsibility as to the accuracy of the original source.]
SIERRA LEONE: Disarmament problems
IRIN sources on Wednesday viewed with caution a report which said a 14-point disarmament agreement had been reached on Monday. An AFP report carried by the BBC said there had been agreement on the monitoring of disarmament locations, transport and on the security of weapons handed in. "We have had smooth sailing at the talks," Colonel Bashiru Conteh, of Sierra Leone's Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) was quoted as saying."The meeting was the best working session we have had with [the West African peacekeeping force] ECOMOG."
Although the meeting was described in the dispatch as a session of one of the three committees established under the Conakry accords, sources said they found the report confusing. Although ECOMOG had sent two observers to the meeting, the 14 points raised still had to be discussed with the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). The sources said it was also unclear whether other parties to the conflict normally expected to attend such committee meetings had been present.
ECOMOG apprehends Chinese seamen off Sierra Leone
Seventeen members of a Chinese oil tanker crew were apprehended in Sierra Leone waters, Star Radio reported Wednesday. It said their vessel had been escorted to Monrovia and was allegedly carrying fuel for a number of Chinese fishing vessels in the area. However, ECOMOG was quoted as saying that any ship deemed to be in violation of ECOWAS sanctions and the UN oil and weapons embargo "would only have itself to blame".
LIBERIA: Government names Dokie suspects
The Liberian justice ministry on Wednesday released the names of four men arrested in connection with the murder of opposition leader Samuel Dokie, media sources reported.
Taylor reaches out to faction rival
Taylor appointed a rival former faction leader to his government, independent Star Radio reported on Wednesday. Quoting an official statement, the station said Taylor made Alhaji Kromah chairman of the National Reconciliation Council. Kromah, leader of the Mandingo wing of the former United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO-K), was briefly allied to Taylor during the April 1996 resurgence of violence in Monrovia.
More recently, however, the two fell out and were bitter enemies during most of the seven-year civil war in Liberia. The war ended in July 1997 when Taylor won the presidential election. ULIMO-K deputies elected to the Liberian national assembly originally refused to take their seats in a Taylor dominated chamber.Kromah himself has spent most of the time since the election out of the country, according to local sources. Local media have persistently claimed that former ULIMO-K forces are involved in the conflict in Sierra Leone and also operate in southern Guinea.
A source in Monrovia told IRIN on Wednesday: "This may be a move to show the government is trying to reach out to opposition members now in order to stabilise the country."
NIGERIA: Hostilities end in oil-rich Osun state
Ife and Modeke clan leaders in the oil-rich Osun state have signed a peace treaty ending months of violence, Radio Nigeria reported on Wednesday. At a meeting in the state capital, Oshogbo, the leaders pledged to rein in their youth and reassured state authorities of their commitment to resolve the dispute through dialogue. State Administrator Colonel Assan Ubi warned that the leaders themselves would be held responsible for any breakdown of law and order. Renewed fighting in the oil rich Osun State had forced the suspension of local elections late last week.
Jailed rights activist awarded
Germany awarded a human rights prize to an imprisoned Nigerian human rights activist, AFP said on Wednesday. The activist, Beko Ransome-Kuti, is the chairman of the Campaign for Democracy, a coalition of Nigerian human rights groups. He was sentenced to life imprisonment, later commuted to 15 years, for his alleged involvement in a March 1995 coup along with several other prominent Nigerians. They included former vice-president General Musa Yar'Adua who died in custody earlier this week.
Journalist beaten
Sunday Orinya, a journalist with the 'The News' magazine, was beaten unconscious by Nigerian soldiers following his arrest on 2 December, the International Freedom of Expression Exchange (IFEX) reported on Wednesday. It said the soldiers were complying with orders of the state administrator who had objected to an article he had written. In Oyo State, two other journalists were briefly detained on charges of holding a training workshop without informing police. Acting editor of the 'New Nigerian', Mahmud Jega, said he had been detained for five hours following the publication of an article calling for an investigation into a fire at the Kaduna Central Market.
NIGER: Security deteriorates in north Niger
Deteriorating security conditions in north Niger has caused two non-governmental organisations to suspend operations partially in the Agadez area on Wednesday, AFP reported. Quoting a press release, the news agency said an Africare driver had been wounded when armed men tried to hijack an agency vehicle. A CARE project manager's house was also robbed at gunpoint before thieves made off in a vehicle stolen from the house.
CARE in Niamey confirmed to IRIN on Wednesday that a press release on the situation in north Niger had been made by the United States Information Service: "CARE has suspended its activities in the Agadez department, but the CARE North programme continues to be run from the adjacent Tahoua department." According to CARE, the situation in north Niger is being assessed for any improvement. "We are looking forward to going back once the previously adequate security conditions have been restored," CARE said.
Journalist released
The director of the weekly 'Alternative', Moussa Tchangari, was provisionally released from prison on Friday, according to AFP. He was arrested last October and sentenced to three months imprisonment. He was the first journalist arrested under the new press laws which forbids, among other restrictions, the publication of any internal government communications.International press watchdogs such as Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) had protested the new law and Tchangari's arrest as a violation of freedom of the press.
BENIN: More strikes
Benin's Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP) is again under attack by a major civil service strike, a local labour analyst told IRIN on Wednesday. The civil service union called a three-day strike on Monday claiming the SAP would erode workers' benefits. It marked the fourth such action by major unions since 25 November.
The union was demanding the payment of "salary arrears", saying it wanted a retroactive readjusment based on the 1992 cost of living index. The government said there were no arrears and that in any case the financial cost was so high that international donors would not approve.Benin is committed to an IMF Enhanced Structural Adjustment Facility (ESAF).
The sources also told IRIN that primary school teachers, too, had started a 72-hour "warning" strike on Monday. They warned of a longer strike if the government did not introduce a system which remunerated them according to their qualifications.
Abidjan, 10 December 1997
[ends]
[The material contained in this communication comes to you via IRIN West Africa, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN-WA Tel: +225 21 73 66 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci for more information or subscription. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this report, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. IRIN reports are archived on the Web at: http://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to archive@dha.unon.org . Mailing list: irin-wa-updates]
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 1997 19:17:16 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 101-97, 97.11.10 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971210191247.2523A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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