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IRIN-WA Update 124 of Events in West Africa, (Thursday) 15 January 1998
[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.]
LIBERIA: New ECOMOG general takes command
Major General Timothy Shelpidi told IRIN on Thursday he had now assumed command of the Liberia-based West African peacekeeping force ECOMOG. The Jnew general takes charge as ECOMOG is scheduled to withdraw from Liberia next month.
Shelpidi's predecessor, Major General Victor Malu, repeatedly clashed with Liberia's President Charles Taylor over ECOMOG's future role, which Malu said was mandated to restructure the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL) as its final task in helping end Liberia's seven-year civil war. Shelpidi declared, however, AFL restructuring was the government's constitutional right. "If the government wants ECOMOG help in restructuring the army, they will make a request through the appropriate channels," he said. He stressed the Abuja peace accord, which mandated restructuring the Liberian army, was not being discarded. "It is just logistics which did not enable the AFL to be re-trained before July's presidential elections," he explained.
Shelpidi also said he was optimistic about the chances for a peaceful end to the conflict in Sierra Leone. "I am hopeful things can be resolved," he said. He added, however: "The options of rehabilitation, negotiation and the use of force all remain open."
Police prosecutions
Liberia's police director Joe Tate sacked seven members of his force for theft on Wednesday, local sources told IRIN. AFP reported the disgraced officers also faced prosecution for stealing a total of 49,000 Liberian dollars (US$ 1,200) from three businessmen in separate robberies in central Monrovia. "The world over, there are rotten apples among the good ones," Tate reportedly said in response to a public outcry over growing police brutality.
However, sources in Monrovia said public confidence in the police was low. "The police are still faction dominated. There is a real sense of insecurity," the source said.
SIERRA LEONE: Clinton bars AFRC from US
United States President Bill Clinton on Wednesday barred members of Sierra Leone's ruling Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) from entering the US. A White House statement said AFRC members and their families would remain barred until the AFRC returned power to ousted civilian president Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.
CAMEROON: Another journalist detained
Cameroonian journalist Harrys Robert Mintya Meka was detained by police on Tuesday, AFP reported. According to Meka's colleagues, his daily 'Le Devoir' published an article a month ago stating that parliamentarian Emmanuel Ava Ava owed the newspaper money.
Meanwhile, the Vienna-based International Press Institute (IPI) denounced the sentence served this week on a newspaper editor. The editor, Pius Njawe of 'Le Messager', was sentenced to two years in jail and fined the equivalent of US $ 1,000 for an article on Cameroonian President Paul Biya's health.
NIGER: Opposition turns down presidential dialogue
The Front pour la Restauration et la Defense de la Democratie (FRDD) in Niger on Wednesday welcomed President Ibrahim Bare Mainassara's offer to resume dialogue with the opposition, AFP reported. The FRDD is a coalition of opposition parties led by Mahamane Ousmane. Ousmane, the former president, was ousted in 1996 when Mainassara seized power in a coup. The FRDD said it "viewed positively" Mainassara's offer of a dialogue. However, one of the parties in the coalition dissented. The Parti Nigerien pour la Democratie et le Socialisme (PNDS) said it could not ignore government accusations of an opposition plot to assassinate Mainassara.
Diplomatic sources in Niamey told IRIN that Mainassarra's gesture was the "only honourable" way out of a difficult situation. The accusations, the source added, were far-fetched.
40,000 workers end two-day strike
A two-day nationwide warning strike called by Niger's main labour union ended on Thursday without concessions from the government, AFP reported. Schools, health centres, maternity wards and government offices were all affected by the strike. Local sources told IRIN that negotiations were still under way. Some 40,000 workers heeded the strike call by the powerful Union des Syndicats des Travailleurs du Niger (USTN) demanding the payment of seven months' wage arrears.
BENIN: Hospitals re-open after two-day strike
Nurses and midwives in Benin on Wednesday suspended a two-day warning strike after "fruitful" negotiations with the government, AFP reported. However, Awassi Basile, secretary general of the Confederation Generale des Travailleurs du Benin (CGTB) told IRIN that negotiations were still under way and nothing had been resolved. Basile threatened to resume the strike over better wages and job prospects early next week if negotiations were not successful.
NIGERIA: Prominent human rights activities arrested
Nigerian security agents on Wednesday arrested the secretary general of the Democratic Alternative (DA), Chima Ubani, news organisations reported. AFP said that Ubani, a human rights activist, was arrested as the DA was viewing a cassette on Nigerians expressing their views on the current state of the nation. Before arresting Ubani, security agents searched everybody in the hall, including journalists.
The European-based Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) called for his release. The CLO said Ubani was a former student activist who has been "subjected to harassment by the government" on previous occasions. The Lagos-based United Action for Democracy expressed its concern for him citing the violence used by agents during his arrest.
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Government resigns
Prime Minister Angel Serafin of Equatorial Guinea on Wednesday presented his government's resignation to President Obiang Nguema, marking the end of its two-year mandate, AFP reported. In a dispatch quoting a state radio report, AFP said the 45-member cabinet would remain in office as a caretaker government until a new prime minister is appointed. The move however comes prior to legislative elections due to be called in coming months.
MAURITANIA: New crackdown on the press
The government of Mauritania has renewed a suspension order served on the weekly newspaper, 'Mauritanie Nouvelles', for three months, the press watchdog Reporters sans Frontieres (RSF) said Thursday. It said no reason had been given for the action. The paper, due to have resumed publication 12 January, has been banned for 10 months in the last two years.
In a related development, RSF said another newspaper, 'Le Calame', had been censored following the publication of an article on the banned opposition movement, Forces de Liberation Africaine de Mauritanie.
Abidjan, 15 January 1998 19:15 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, 15 Jan 1998 19:24:13 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 124, 98.1.15 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980115191704.8190A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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