UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN-West Africa Update 149, 98.2.19

IRIN-West Africa Update 149, 98.2.19


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 149 of Events in West Africa, (Thursday) 19 February 1998

NOTICE: IRIN-WA regrets that update 149 has been delayed by technical difficulties at IRIN-WA's Internet Service Provider. Every effort is being made to resolve these difficulties immediately.

SIERRA LEONE: Nigerian foreign minister visits Freetown

A West African delegation led by Nigerian foreign minister Tom Ikimi, ended a two-day visit to Sierra Leone on Thursday, news organisations reported. The delegation assessed the overall security situation and visited West African peacekeeping bases. Ikimi said he expected more troops from other nations to bolster ECOMOG peacekeeping forces in Sierra Leone following last week's removal of the Armed Forces of Revolutionary Council (AFRC).

Later on Thursday, Ikimi met with elected President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah in Conakry, capital of neighbouring Guinea, to discuss the situation in Sierra Leone.

Formal return of UN to Sierra Leone

United Nations Special Envoy, Francis Okelo, on Wednesday led a UN humanitarian assessment mission to Freetown. He told IRIN that his visit marked the formal return of the UN to Sierra Leone following the AFRC coup last May and that he planned to relocate from Conakry to Freetown in coming days. He said the country's key requirements were food, medicine and immediate shelter for those who had lost their homes during the ECOMOG take-over of Freetown.

Exiled president meets donors

After a meeting in Conakry with international donors on Wednesday, Kabbah said he too planned to return to Freetown in "the next few days", AFP reported. The ICRC told IRIN it would begin distribution on Friday of 850mt of food and medical supplies delivered to Freetown aboard a ship chartered by WFP. The donors pledged to provide further assistance, including mine-clearing expertise.

Representatives of UN agencies and donor governments attended the meeting with Kabbah. AFP reported that they were ready to dispatch further humanitarian supplies. Kabbah also said an 11-member task force had been set up to assess damage caused to his country's administrative infrastructure and schools.

Fighting in the south reported

In fresh skirmishes reported on Thursday, AFP said fighters of Revolutionary United Front (RUF) allied to the AFRC had attacked villages, torched houses and stolen livestock in western Sierra Leone. It quoted witnesses as saying districts under attack included Port Loko, Kambia, Masiaka, Rogbere Junction, Bamoi Junction, and other areas less than 100 km north of Freetown.

The French NGO, Action Contre la Faim (ACF), said that people in the southern town of Bo, 150 km from Freetown, also faced food shortages and other problems. The BBC said ACF had described the situation in Bo as "alarming". Buildings where aid workers had taken refuge had been ransacked several times in recent days when the city was attacked by AFRC forces.

The Liberia-based ECOMOG Force Commander, Major General Timothy Shelpidi, meanwhile, called on AFRC soldiers, who had fled to the countryside to surrender their arms and ammunition, Star Radio reported.

Refugee boats capsize

At least 140 people who had fled Freetown by sea were reported on Thursday to have drowned after their boat capsized. An AFP report quoting Sierra Leone radio also said 60 others were believed to have drowned in a similar accident at the weekend near Conakry Dee, 10 km from Freetown. No further details were available.

Senior AFRC men arrested

Meanwhile, two senior officers of the ousted AFRC were arrested on the Guinean border this week, AFP reported on Thursday. Chief of army staff Colonel Samuel Williams, and former minister of works Colonel Saaba were detained on Tuesday at the border town of Pamlap in Guinea, 90 km from Conakry, AFP reported.

LIBERIA: Dispute over AFRC arrest in Monrovia

Shelpidi on Wednesday met with Liberian President Charles Taylor to discuss the arrests earlier in the week of AFRC officials who fled to the Liberian capital, Star Radio reported. Taylor said that his government would protest to ECOWAS and the United Nations because he considered the arrests a violation of the Liberian sovereignty.

Liberian opposition parliamentarians advised the government to reject any asylum requests from the AFRC. In a statement quoted by AFP, they said granting asylum to AFRC representatives could compromise Liberia's neutrality.

Resettlement plans for displaced people

The Liberian government on Wednesday announced a US$ 5 million resettlement plan for an estimated 220,000 internally displaced people, Star Radio reported. The Liberian Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission, with the support of the UNHCR and the European Union, would provide transportation, food, temporary shelters, seeds and farming tools to those returning home. The resettlement operation was scheduled to being at the end of the month.

NIGERIA: Coup tribunal may be open to "observers"

A special military tribunal trying 26 people on charges of plotting a coup against the Nigerian government may be opened to "observers", AFP reported. Defence ministry spokesman, Godwin Ugbo, was quoted by Lagos-based daily, 'The Guardian', as saying anyone who wanted to witness the trial as "an observer should write to the tribunal's president to seek permission". Except for the opening session last Friday, the authorities said the hearing would be held behind closed doors.

European Parliament appeal to isolate Nigeria

Glenys Kinnock, a British member of the European Parliament's majority Socialist Bloc on Wednesday called on European trade missions in Nigeria to cease their operations, AFP reported. She was further quoted in a speech to the parliament as saying that the Nigerian football team should "of course" be barred from this year's World Cup competition in France.

BENIN: Telecommunications workers call for a one-day strike

Post and Telecommunications workers on Thursday called for a 24-hour stoppage in support if a nationwide civil service strike for higher pay, the BBC reported. They said that the government's budget did not address the problems of proverty. They also said that government plans to privatise their offices could mean further job cuts. Civil service union leaders met with officials but said that they had made no progress towards settling the dispute.

Abidjan, 19 February 1998 17:30 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: Fri, 20 Feb 1998 13:06:42 +0300 (GMT+0300) Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 149, 98.2.19 Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.91.980220130552.17634A@dha.unon.org>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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