UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN-West Africa Update 105-97, 12/16/97

IRIN-West Africa Update 105-97, 12/16/97


U N I T E D N A T I O N S Department of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa

Tel: +225 21-63-35 Fax: +225 21-63-35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci

IRIN-WA Update 105-97 of Events in West Africa, (Tuesday) 16 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: New cabinet announced

Nigeria's military ruler, General Sani Abacha, on Tuesday announced a new cabinet, media reports said. The cabinet of 33 ministers includes eight army officers and three women. Sixteen members of the previous government retained their posts. Among those staying are the ministers of finance, foreign affairs and petroleum. Abacha dissolved his previous government last month to mark the fourth anniversary of the coup which brought him to power. He said the move was intended to free politicians who wanted to run for the elections promised for 1998.

Abacha explains foreign policy priorities

The media on Tuesday quoted Abacha as saying Nigeria was cultivating new friends, mainly in Asia and the former east bloc, because of perceived hostile attitudes by Washington and Europe over human rights issues. In a message to the Nigerian Institute of International Affairs, Abacha said the shift was based on the realities of self-determination rather than malice against other nations.

PANA and Nigerian radio quoted him as saying Nigeria still valued the ideals of the British-led Commonwealth from which it was suspended in 1995 for human rights violations. "As a mature nation, we bear no malice, but goodwill, and will continue to endorse and cherish the noble ideals of the organisation," Abacha said.

Security tightened after protest

Meanwhile, AFP reported that security had been tightened on Monday in Katsina, the birthplace in northern Nigeria of General Shehu Yar'Adua, who died last week while serving a 25-year prison term for treason. Armed police and soldiers were deployed around the city following a weekend demonstration by Yar'Adua supporters.

Foreign oil workers still held hostage

Media reports from Nigeria on Tuesday said the authorities were still trying to negotiate the release of a group of at least four foreigners and nine Nigerians taken hostage at the weekend. The group, employees of the American oil exploration company, Western Geophysical, were being held on a house-boat in the southern state of Ondo.

A Reuters dispatch said a New Zealander had been released, and that the other foreigners included an Australian, an American and two Britons. The company, however, declined to comment, while the BBC said diplomats described the affair as another quest by villagers for more local investment.

SIERRA LEONE: ECOMOG explains weekend air raids

Major-General Victor Malu, the Nigerian commander of ECOMOG, on Tuesday justified weekend air raids in Sierra Leone in which the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) claimed scores were killed, AFP reported. "We effectively bombed an airport under construction," he was quoted as saying. "We control Lungi international airport (near Freetown), and the military (AFRC) was transforming a track into a real airport to receive shipments of arms. It was our duty to stop them," said Malu.

ECOMOG has a mandate to enforce sanctions by the UN and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) on the AFRC which overthrew President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in May. To AFRC claims that up to 80 people had died, Malu said: "It is not the first time they have brought out empty coffins..." There were no further details on the number of sorties or their locations which the AFRC said were in the southeast and east of the country.

UN approves first step to observer mission

A UN official told IRIN on Tuesday that the Security Council had agreed to dispatch a technical survey mission to Sierra Leone. The team will conduct an assessment of the situation as the first step towards the deployment of a fully fledged UN observer mission. The official said a UN liaison office in Freetown headed by UN Special Envoy Francis Okello was also being established. He will be assisted by a staff of three advisors on political, military and humanitarian affairs. The office is expected to be operational by early next month.

AFRC reshuffle

The AFRC has announced a cabinet re-shuffle, AFP reported on Tuesday. Major Johnny Paul Koroma, leader of the AFRC, reshuffled his cabinet late Monday, it said, quoting radio and television announcements. The 24-member cabinet includes 10 civilians and a woman.

Fears of hunger

An AFP report on Tuesday said people fleeing two islands in the Sierra Leone estuary, 40 km from Freetown, had reported deteriorating food and medical supplies. Alhaji Kemokai, a town chief from the islands of Tasso and Pepel, was quoted as saying at least 10 people a week were dying of hunger. "We are virtually cut off and left to the mercy of God," added Methodist pastor Julius Cole.

Humanitarian agencies, which said they had not had access to the area since the May coup, told IRIN they had not heard such testimony.

LIBERIA: International airport reopens

Liberia's international airport was re-opened for commercial flights on Monday, Star Radio reported. The Roberts International Airport, 70 km east of the capital Monrovia, was closed seven years ago shortly after the start of the Liberian civil war. After an opening ceremony conducted by Vice President Enoch Dogolea, who deputised for President Charles Taylor, officials said over US $ 3.5 million would be required to get the airport fully operational again.

GUINEA: Appeal for journalist

Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) announced that it had launched an appeal on Monday for the release of a journalist held incommunicado in a Conakry detention centre since 13 October. The journalist, Foday Fofana, of the weekly 'L'Independant', was arrested after going to interview a military camp commander. RSF said the charges against him included "attempting to threaten the security of the state".

WEST AFRICA: Annan urges ECOWAS summit on Sierra Leone

UN Secretary General Kofi Annan urged the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to use its Liberia experience to help resolve the Sierra Leone conflict. The two-day ECOWAS summit opened on Tuesday. In a message to West African leaders delivered by Okello, Annan said ECOWAS could count on UN assistance and expertise.

AFP said the region's special five-nation committee on Sierra Leone would meet on Friday in the Nigerian capital Abuja. The committee comprises Ghana, Guinea, Ivory Coast, Liberia and Nigeria.

West African nations high on Unicef infant mortality list

UNICEF's "State of the World's Children" report on Tuesday showed that West African nations rank among the highest in the world for the number of children who die before reaching the age of five.

Niger has the highest infant mortality rate in the world with 320 deaths per thousand.

Other countries in the region according to the world rankings of their under-five infant mortality rates are as follows:

3-Sierra Leone 284 per thousand; 5-Liberia 235; 6-Guinea Bissau 223; 7-Mali 220; 11-Guinea 210; 14-Nigeria 191; 15-Mauritania 183; 18-Equatorial Guinea 173; 23-Burkina Faso 158; 25-Cote d'Ivoire 150; 27-Chad 149; 28-Gabon 145; 31-Benin 140; 38-Togo 125; 47-Ghana 110; 49-The Gambia 107; 51-Cameroon 102; 57-Sao Tome & Principe 80; 65-Cape Verde 73.

Abidjan, 16 December 1997, 19:00 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: Tue, 16 Dec 1997 18:54:14 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 105-97, 97.12.16 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971216185111.16783A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

Previous Menu Home Page What's New Search Country Specific