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IRIN-WA Update 107-97 of Events in West Africa, (Thursday) 18 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.]
SENEGAL: Casamance peace talks imminent
Senegalese Prime Minister Habib Thiam told AFP on Wednesday that negotiations with the separatist Mouvement des Forces Democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) were imminent. Thiam said pressure from the Church, and the government's military campaign had persuaded the MFDC to reconsider negotiations. Earlier in the week, President Abdou Diouf also expressed his readiness to negotiate an end to the conflict.
However, the MFDC was reportedly having problems agreeing
on a negotiator. Previous peace talks in December 1995
resulted in a split between moderate and more militant
factions in the MFDC.
The militant faction resumed its guerrilla war in July.
However, Thiam was confident that, this time, negotiations
based on a "new focus on regionalism" recognising
the "unique character" of Casamance would
prove productive. The concept of regionalism, whereby
all ten regions are governed by their own council,
was introduced over a year ago. The MFDC has fought
for Casamance independence since 1982.
Latest casualties
Thiam said security in Casamance was "well in hand", although media reports from the region said a police officer and two civilians were killed in an attack on Tuesday, and that two had been killed and six wounded when their taxi hit a landmine on Wednesday.
Refugees reluctant to move
Plans to relocate some estimated 15,000 Casamance refugees towards the interior of Guinea-Bissau away from the Senegal border have not been fully realised, a UNHCR official told IRIN on Thursday. Guinea-Bissau had agreed in October to the relocation after complaints by Senegal of collusion with the MFDC. Two weeks ago, Guinea-Bissau established a National Committee on Refugees to register them prior to relocation to a new camp at Nhala, 380 km to the south. An appeal for voluntary registration at the Jolmete transit centre attracted only 752.
The official said the refugees' shared ethnicity with local people and proximity to their homes across the border had encouraged easy integration. Many therefore did not want to move. They moved over the border during the last six years. Although humanitarian assistance was initially provided for resettlement, ongoing assistance is only available to those living in camps.
NIGERIA: Oil hostages freed
The last oil workers held hostage this week by local people in Nigeria's southwest Ondo state have been freed, according to diplomats and company officials, media sources reported on Thursday. According to AFP, a Western Geophysical spokesman said everybody had been released, but refused to give details of how the crisis had been resolved.
The nine Nigerian and five foreign workers had been held in a houseboat since Saturday. One American hostage escaped from his captors earlier in the week, AFP reported on Wednesday, while, according to the BBC, others had also been released or escaped as payments were made to pacify crowds around the boat. Local people reportedly took them in a dispute with the oil firm over the return of benefits from oil exploration to the local community. According to the BBC, local people have previously used hostage-taking to push demands for local investment by Western oil companies.
Second detainee dies
A local paper reported on Thursday that a sergeant imprisoned for attempting a coup against Nigerian Head of State General Sani Abacha had died in gaol, according to AFP. The 'National Concord' said Patrick Usikekpo died in Uyo prison in the southeast of the country. He was part of a group of six led by former head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo who were gaoled by a military court for the failed 1995 coup. The paper said his death may have been due to an outbreak of typhoid, which had also killed other inmates. No official confirmation of Usikekpo's death had been made. The Nigerian authorities have yet to officially comment on the circumstances behind the death of the former deputy to General Obasanjo, General Shehu Musa Yar'Adua, who died in prison last week.
Government promises free malaria tests
The Lagos state government has promised to give free malaria tests in the city from 1 January 1998, PANA reported on Thursday. State administrator Colonel Mohammed Marwa said the malaria programme was imperative because most people in Lagos could not afford tests and treatment costs.
SIERRA LEONE: Ghana accepts refugees
Ghana has given 400 Sierra Leoneans the right to remain in the country as refugees, news agencies reported on Thursday. They were among a group of 700 who arrived in the country in September. They claimed to have been invited to collect American visas after the closure of the US embassy in Freetown.
BENIN: American military cooperation
The US Under-Secretary of State for Defence, Vincent Kern, and Benin's defence minister, Severin Kern, opened a two-day military commission meeting on Wednesday, AFP reported. About 20 officers representing both countries were participating in what Kern called America's only military cooperation programme in sub-Saharan Africa. Kern said the cooperation was as a direct result of the "happy transformation" to democracy in Benin.
French aid
In a related development, France on Wednesday signed three aid conventions with Benin worth FF 19 million, AFP reported. The funds will be allocated to public security, financial administration and education.
WEST AFRICA : ECOWAS summit held without Abacha
The Nigerian leader, General Sani Abacha, did not attend Wednesday's summit of Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) heads of state because of poor health, news reports said. Abacha was due to have chaired the summit in Lome, Togo. But Togo's president, Gnassingbe Eyadema, announced: "I regret the absence of my brother and collegue General Abacha, the chairman of ECOWAS, due to health reasons. I wish him a speedy recovery." Senegalese President Abdou Diouf, who chaired the summit in Abacha's absence, also said he had not been able to attend "for health reasons".
Tom Ikimi, the Nigerian foreign minister, said Abacha had made arrangments to attend, but was unable to because of "circumstances beyond his control".
Leaders agree to boost regional peace-keeping
The fourth extraordinary ECOWAS summit was called to discuss regional security and the regional peacekeeping force, ECOMOG's, operations in Liberia and Sierra Leone, Reuters said. The force comprises 10,000 men from 10 of the 16 ECOWAS nations.
A joint statement after the meeting said: "The heads of state have decided to use the experience acquired for the putting in place of a mechanism of prevention, management and settlement of conflicts and of peacekeeping in West Africa." They also called on the UN and the international community to support ECOWAS in its aim to secure peace, security and stability in the region. They renewed their support for the Committee of Five on Sierra Leone and welcomed ECOMOG's "positive" role in Liberia and Sierra Leone. Several countries expressed support for the idea of contributing more troops to ECOMOG
CFA economies show good growth.
Economies of the eight West African nations in the Central
African Franc zone were showing good growth with low
inflation, a Reuters dispatch said on Wednesday, quoting
the region's central bank governor.
The CFA franc is guaranteed by France at a fixed rate
of 100 per French franc. Charles Konan Banny, governor
of the Ouagadougou-based Central Bank of West African
States, also discounted speculation that this link
would be cut once the French franc gives way to the
euro in 1999.
"We will still exist, whether the euro happens or not, and our currency will still be our currency," Banny said. He stressed that the CFA franc was 100 percent covered by the region's gold and foreign exchange reserves of 1,950 billion CFA francs (US $3.3 billion) - equivalent to six months of imports.
Germany has objected to future French CFA support for the Economic and Monetary Union of West Africa (UEMOA), which covers Benin, Burkina Faso, Guinea-Bissau, Ivory Coast, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo.
Abidjan, 18 December 1997, 19:30 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, 18 Dec 1997 19:42:58 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 107-97, 97.12.18 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971218193942.31535A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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