UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN-West Africa Update 147, 98.2.17

IRIN-West Africa Update 147, 98.2.17


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

Tel: +225 21-73-54 Fax: +225 21-63-35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci

IRIN-WA Update 147 of Events in West Africa, (Tuesday) 17 February 1998

SIERRA LEONE: ECOMOG restores order in Freetown

The Nigerian-led West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, had virtually restored order on Monday to Sierra Leone's capital, Freetown, ending widespread looting after last week's battle for the city, media reports said.

The ECOMOG commander, Major General Timothy Shelpidi, had been able to visit his troops on patrol in Freetown and was quoted as saying that Sierra Leone's former civilian president, Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah would also be able return once the city had been made "fully safe".

Earlier, AFP reported rampaging youths had lynched several people and attacked and set fire to the homes of members of the deposed Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). As ECOMOG troops moved to quell the violence, it said the whereabouts of AFRC leader, Major Johnny Paul Koroma still remained unknown.

Shelpidi said the next phase of the ECOMOG mission would be to pursue the AFRC in the interior of Sierra Leone. "Where they refuse to handover their weapons, we shall force them," he said. However, he said ECOMOG was also waiting for troops from other West African nations to arrive. "Problems are mainly logistical," he said.

Meanwhile, dwindling food supplies in the city were getting more expensive every day, AFP said. WFP told IRIN on Tuesday, however, that a ship it had chartered to take some 850 mt of food and emergency medical supplies had already left neighbouring Liberia for Freetown after getting clearance from ECOMOG.

LIBERIA: Liberia appeals for international help

The Liberian government appealed on Monday for international assistance for more than 100,000 refugees it said had crossed into Liberia to escape fighting in Sierra Leone, news organisations said. Minister of Information Joe Mulbah warned of an "impending humanitarian catastrophe" because many of the refugees were sick and hungry. Mulbah said Liberia had sent emergency food and medicine to the border, but more help was needed because more refugees were entering the country daily.

However, a humanitarian source in Monrovia told IRIN on Tuesday that aid agency estimates currently put the total number of incoming refugees at less than 50,000. According to the source, the border between Liberia and Sierra Leone was open and agencies hoped only short-term emergency assistance would be required before refugees were able to return home. Assessment teams were sent to the affected area at the weekend.

Rival faction leader accuses Taylor

In a separate development, a onetime rival of Liberian President Charles Taylor in the country's seven-year civil war accused Taylor of staffing Liberia's new security exclusively with members of his own former faction, media reports said Tuesday. The former rival, Roosevelt Johnson, who was appointed minister for rural development after Taylor's presidential election victory last July, said Taylor was "packing the army with his own men" from the former National Patriotic Front for Liberia (NPFL). "There is no one in the ministry of defence who is not a former NPFL member," Johnson was quoted as saying.

Johnson rejected claims by Taylor at the weekend that he was re-arming his own fighters. "We just want to promote peace and national stability," Johnson said.

Last month, Taylor retired over 2,500 soldiers from the Liberian army. Most were from Johnson's Krahn ethnic group, media reports said. A Liberia analyst in Monrovia told IRIN on Tuesday there had been increasing signs of tension between the former Liberian factions.

NIGERIA: Coup plot trial resumes

The trial of 26 people accused of plotting to overthrow Nigerian leader General Sani Abacha resumed behind closed doors on Monday, PANA reported. It said the trial could be expected to take up to four weeks and that only the final session at which the verdict will be given would be open to the public. The defendants include General Oladipo Diya, Abacha's former deputy. Charges against them carry the death penalty.

Jailed journalist awarded UNESCO prize

UNESCO Director-General Frederico Mayor on Monday awarded the Guillermo Cano World Press Freedom prize to the jailed Nigerian journalist, Christina Anyanwu. The president of UNESCO's advisory group for press freedom, Claude Moisy told AFP said that "Anyanwu had been suffering under extremely harsh prison conditions in a country where the independent press and freedom of information have almost disappeared". She was reportedly suffering from typhoid, malaria and high blood pressure.

Anyanwu, publisher and editor of Lagos-based Sunday Magazine, was arrested after publishing an article about an alleged 1995 coup attempt against Abacha. She was sentenced to life in prison by a military tribunal after a secret trial the same year.

BENIN: Civil servants on strike

The opposition Renaissance Party in Benin has called on the government to begin an immediate dialogue with workers' leaders to end a civil servants strike, the BBC reported on Tuesday. Government employees, supported by five trade unions, are pressing for pay rises agreed in 1996, as well as improved benefits. Government-run services, including education establishments and broadcasting, have been badly affected by the strike.

Trade union sources in the capital Cotonou told IRIN on Tuesday they were still in negotiation with the government.

SENEGAL: Separatists vow not to use land mines

Separatists in Senegal's troubled southern province of Casamance have pledged not to use anti-personnel mines in their fight against the government, AFP reported on Tuesday. It said the pledge had been made after the International Federation of Human Rights (IFHR) had blamed the Mouvement des Forces Democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) for planting mines which had maimed and killed many people.

WEST AFRICA: Summit called off

A mini-summit of West African States scheduled to have started on Tuesday has been postponed indefinitely, news organisations reported. The gathering was expected to discuss the setting up of a single currency for the region. Although no official reason was given for the postponement, the BBC cited disagreements between English and French-speaking countries over issues such as the creation of regional travellers' cheques and a common currency.

Abidjan, 17 February 20:00 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: Wed, 18 Feb 1998 11:55:54 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 147, 98.2.17 (fwd) Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980218115329.6541D-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

Previous Menu Home Page What's New Search Country Specific