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IRIN-WA Update 102-97 of Events in West Africa, (Thursday) 11 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.]
NIGERIA: US calls for release of detainees
The United States voiced its "profound sadness" over the death this week of a jailed former vice president, news organisations reported on Thursday. A statement released by the US embassy regretted the "circumstances leading to the death" of General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua. He was sentenced to 25 years imprisonment in 1995 for allegedly plotting a coup against the country's military ruler, General Sani Abacha.
The embassy also also urged Abacha to release political detainees as a key step towards "endowing the transitional process with credibility". The statement also recalled his pledge last month to grant an amnesty to detainees whose release did not pose a security threat. None had yet been freed.
In a related development, the Nigerian lawyer and human rights activist Gani Fawehinmi, was quoted by AFP as demanding a UN inquiry into the former vice president's death.
LIBERIA: Government threatens to shut down radio station
The Liberian government has threatened to shut down a Catholic broadcasting station in Monrovia, independent Star Radio reported on Thursday. The station quoted Archbishop Michael Francis as saying any government closure attempt would be a challenge to 1.2 billion Catholics worldwide. According to Star Radio, he was reacting to a statement by Post and Telecommunications Minister Maxwell Kaba. At a press conference on Monday, Kaba warned that local radio stations "operating contrary to law" would not be allowed to continue. The Archbishop said there more urgent problems in Liberia than attacking radio stations.
Women protest Janet Dokie killing
Hundreds of women gathered to mourn the killing of Janet Dokie and other female victims of the conflict in Liberia on Wednesday, Star Radio reported. The Liberia Women Initiative (LWI) organised the event to draw attention to the brutal killing of Janet Dokie, wife of opposition leader Samuel Dokie, who was found murdered with her husband last Wednesday. LWI General Secretary Etweda Cooper said that with the end of Liberia's seven-year civil war, the disappearance and killing of people had to stop. Leading opposition member Dr Togbah-Nah-Tipoteh added his voice to demands that Dokie's murderers be brought to trial, the radio said. Tipoteh told journalists transparent justice was the only way to heal the wounds of the crime.
First ECOMOG troops return to Nigeria
The first batch of Nigerian ECOMOG troops to withdraw from Liberia have arrived home, Nigerian radio reported on Wednesday. The first troops landed in Port Harcourt a fortnight ago. A second detachment of 1,200 troops was expected in Lagos. ECOMOG and the Liberian government have repeatedly quarrelled over ECOMOG's continuing role in Liberia. ECOMOG says it is mandated to restructure the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) as the last part of the Abuja agreement which ended the civil war. President Charles Taylor has insisted this was his prerogative alone.
SIERRA LEONE: Military government accuses Nigeria
Sierra Leone's military government on Wednesday accused the Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping force ECOMOG of planning a Christmas invasion, AFP reported. In a dispatch from Freetown, it quoted Colonel Abdul Sesay, secretary general of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), as saying: "Sufficient funds have been provided to ECOMOG and the organisation has already brought in 18 amphibious vehicles for the operation."
He said the AFRC had already been through four "effective military engagements with the Nigerians". He also accused ousted president Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah of "backing" the ECOMOG plan.
ECOMOG's commander in Sierra Leone, Colonel Max Khobe, denied the accusations as "malicious propaganda", AFP added. "We are still at the negotiating table," Khobe said. "I believe we will resolve the outstanding issues there - not on on the battlefield." Under the terms of last October's Conakry Accords, the AFRC agreed to hand over power to the constitutional government next April .
Chinese seamen assured of wellbeing
An ECOMOG statement from the Liberian capital Monrovia, meanwhile, was quoted by AFP as saying the 17-man crew of a Chinese oil tanker intercepted in Sierra Leone this week had been assured of their "safety and comfort". Their vessel, the 'Haigon You-301' had been escorted to Monrovia. "Our relationship with the People's Republic of China is very cordial," the statement added, "and we shall not allow procedural breaches to strain it."
SENEGAL: Strike shuts airports
Airports in Senegal were closed for a second day on Thursday because of a strike by air traffic controllers, AFP reported. According to the news agency, aviation sources said the two-day strike was called over discrepancies in raises given to workers in different countries in West Africa and France who are represented by the same union. Negotiations between management and officials of the Agence pour la Securite de la Navigation Aerienne (ASCENA)continued on Thursday.
TOGO: Gaol terms for soldiers who killed German diplomat
Two Togolese soldiers were sentenced to 10 years in gaol on Wednesday for the 1996 manslaughter of German diplomat Thomas Ruprecht, Reuters reported. The two soldiers told the court that the diplomat had refused to let them search his vehicle at a checkpoint. According to the men, Ruprecht tried to grab their weapons. They fired at the vehicle tyres, the soldiers said. According to an army medical report, Ruprecht died very quickly when shot in the neck and back.
MAURITANIA: Presidential election
Voters in Mauritania go to the polls on Friday for a presidential election widely expected to see the incumbent, Maaouya ould Sid'Ahmed Taya, returned to office, news media reported. [IRIN has provided a special report on the background of the election, the contenders and their parties.]
Abidjan, 11 December 1997 18:50 gmt
[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: Thu, 11 Dec 1997 18:58:35 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 102-97, 97.12.11 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971211185610.1561B-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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