UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup, 10/3/97

IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup, 10/3/97


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 Weekly Roundup 16-97 of Main Events in West Africa covering the period 29 September-3 October 1997

[The weekly roundups are based on relevant information from UN agencies, NGOs, governments, donors and the media. IRIN-WA issues these reports for the benefit of the humanitarian community, but accepts no responsibility as to the accuracy of the original source. Please note IRIN-WA's daily round-up for Friday is included in this report.]

SIERRA LEONE: UN Security Council weighs sanctions

The UN Security Council is discussing the imposition of a global oil, arms and travel embargo against the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) today (Friday). A British draft resolution currently circulating within the Security Council calls on the AFRC to take immediate steps to relinquish power, AFP reported. It calls for a ban on the sale or supply of fuel, petroleum products and military materiel. It also provides for international travel restrictions against AFRC members and adult members of their families and for a sanctions-monitoring mechanism. Humanitarian assistance is not affected by the proposed embargo. The sanctions are aimed at supporting the ECOWAS regional package of sanctions.

Ousted leader calls for UN help

Ousted Sierra Leonean president Alhaji Ahmed Tejan Kabbah, on Wednesday, appealed to the United Nations to help restore his government to power. In a speech to the UN General Assembly, Kabbah said that Sierra Leone had been transformed into a "gulag of horrors". He recalled that on 6 August the UN Security Council had promised "appropriate measures" to restore his government and sought its backing for ECOWAS sanctions. Kabbah said he was sceptical about negotiating with the AFRC as it would give further recognition to the illegal regime.

ECOMOG shells Port Loko and coastal areas

ECOMOG warplanes bombed Port Loko district, 60 km from Freetown, on Monday, killing seven civilians. According to sources close to the Sierra Leonean military, two cluster bombs were also dropped on Lokosama, near Port Loko.ECOMOG Force Commander General Victor Malu denied these reports.

ECOMOG forces shelled the coastal residential areas in Freetown overnight on Monday. Residents said that there were no casualties. The motive for the mortar fire was not known. ECOMOG declined to comment on the incident.

ECOMOG calls on AFRC on step down

ECOMOG Field Commander Max Khobe called on the AFRC to step down. In an interview broadcast on pro-Kabbah radio, he said that AFRC members and soldiers who surrendered to ECOMOG would come under its protection. Military force would be considered if the AFRC rejected ECOMOG's offer. Khobe warned residents to leave those areas where ECOMOG was engaged, particularly in the port area.

Humanitarian community discuss cross-border operations

Consultations between UN agencies and NGOs are currently under way on cross-border operations from neighbouring Guinea into Sierra Leone. World Food Programme (WFP) said that 60,000 internally displaced persons depended entirely on food aid distributed by WFP and NGOs in Freetown and surrounding areas. Medical organisations have reported an increase in child malnutrition in certain parts of the country. An outbreak of measles in the northern district of Koinadugu was reported during the week. UNICEF said that approximately 3,000 persons were affected, but immunisations had begun.

A humanitarian source said that some 11,000 mt of food were ready to be moved into Bo, Kenema, Makeni and Kambia in Sierra Leone from Guinea. Current food stocks in Sierra Leone amounted to less than 2,500 mt.

47 die of lassa fever, local medical authorities claim

Sierra Leonean medical authorities told AFP on Wednesday that 47 people had died of lassa fever in the last six months. More than 300 patients were admitted to the Lassa Fever Clinic in Kenema district, eastern Sierra Leone. Richard Allan, medical adviser to the Medical Emergency Relief International (MERLIN), told IRIN that the epidemic had escalated in January 1997 to become the worst epidemic of lassa fever ever recorded. MERLIN treated over 328 hospitalised cases of lassa fever in the first four months of 1997. Since the May coup d'etat, MERLIN has not been able to get to the areas where lassa fever is concentrated. Lassa fever is transmitted by rats infected with the virus which come into close contact with humans.

LIBERIA: Taylor meets Abacha and Qadhafi

Liberian President Charles Taylor left Abuja on Sunday after a two-day stopover in Nigeria. Taylor met his Libyan counterpart who hailed him as a "revolutionary and fighter". According to the Monrovian 'The National' daily, the US government warned Taylor over reviving his connection with Libya. Another Liberian paper claimed that western donors were holding off from disbursing aid to the Liberian government. Humanitarian sources indicated that there has been no announcement on a change in donor's funding policy.

NIGERIA: Ethnic clashes claim three lives

Renewed ethnic clashes yesterday killed at least three people and wounded several others in Warri, a major oil city in southern Nigeria. Violence flared up on Thursday between the Ijaws and Itsekiris, two of the main ethnic groups in the Delta State region. The death toll is now at 110. In a statement, Ijaw leaders said that armed Itsekiris backed by uniformed men attacked the village of Ekeremor Zion and kidnapped 70 inhabitants, AFP reported. The Ogbeh Ojih market was partially burned down. Ijaw activists said that they were unjustly blamed by Itsekiris for the disappearance of four Nigerian soldiers. A Nigerian army statement accused all four men of being engaged in "illegal activities". The army said the soldiers were apparently kidnapped by fuel smugglers and killed in a settling of scores.Violence broke out in Warri when the local government headquarters was relocated in June.

Detained Nigerian rights leader incommunicado

Lawyers of the head of Nigeria-based Human Rights Africa, Tunji Abayomi, have not been able to visit their client. Abayomi has been held incommunicado since his arrest. It is feared that he is being mistreated, according to AFP.Abayomi, himself a lawyer of former military head of state General Olusegun Obasanjo, was among 71 people arrested last Thursday in Jos, central Nigeria, while attending a pro-democracy conference. The lawyers who visited the state security service office in Jos were not allowed to see Abayomi but claim they heard his "wailings". They said their client was undergoing some form of torture, AFP reported.

Abacha pledges to hand over power

Nigerian head of state General Sani Abacha pledged on Wednesday to hand over power to an elected civilian administration in twelve months' time. In a nationwide broadcast speech marking the 37th anniversary of Nigerian independence, Abacha said that the "political transition programme will terminate on 1 October 1998 with the entry into office of an elected civilian administration". Abacha did not say whether he himself would run in the presidential elections scheduled for August 1998. He called on dissidents to join the transition process leading to democracy, adding that those who felt "alienated and aggrieved" should try to find a role for themselves.

Pro-democracy group reacts angrily to Abacha's speech

The pro-democracy umbrella organisation, National Democratic Coalition (NADECO), reacted angrily on Thursday to Abacha's state of the nation broadcast. In a statement, NADECO said that it was convinced that Abacha and the military annulled the 1993 elections because they were believed to have been won by Moshood Abiola, a southerner, AFP reported. It said that Abacha's transition programme was designed to continue "northern hegemony and bury Abiola's mandate". Abacha, a northerner like most previous Nigerian rulers, seized power three months after the annulment of these elections. The opposition is also angry that Abacha did not announce the release of certain political prisoners. NADECO said that "it shall remain opposed to... and resist the imposition of the northern oligarchy, of Abacha or any other candidate of their choice". NADECO was formed in 1994 to campaign for the validation of the annulled elections.

Media "operation sweep"

The Nigerian press has been harassed by security forces since media reports appeared on Abacha's ill health. According to Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF), the Nigerian government is increasingly relying on arrests and blackmail to muzzle the press. RSF claims that an anti-crime outfit called "Operation Sweep" has been targeting newspaper vendors. RSF called on Abacha to improve freedom of the press by immediately and unconditionally releasing five imprisoned journalists. The journalists were arrested for "concealing information and involvement to varying degrees in the failed coup d'etat", RSF said.

SENEGAL: Eleven killed in attack

Eleven people were killed, four wounded and two disappeared on Saturday during an attack on a fishing village in Casamance. The assailants, reportedly belonging to the separatist le Mouvement des Forces Democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) attacked Diogue, a fishing village in Casamance. Most victims drowned as they attempted to flee in a canoe. Some villagers were able to swim to safety. Eyewitnesses said that some 20 rebels looted US$ 26,000 worth of goods during the raid.

Government rejects AI's report

The Senegalese government and nine opposition parties rejected the Amnesty International report on human rights violations in Casamance. The AI report released a week ago documented alleged summary executions and abductions by the Senegalese security forces. Senegalese Defence minister Jacques Baudin said on Africa No 1 radio that these allegations were "pure fabrication". Nine opposition parties said the AI report was biased.

CAMEROON: Opposition condemns unfair allocation of air time

Three opposition candidates have condemned the unfair allocation of election campaign air time. They claimed that with the exception of the one-hour live slots shared equally among the nine candidates, all other programmes are dominated by the ruling party, the Rassemblement Democratique du Peuple Camerounais.

Low interest in polls

Cameroonians have lost interest in the elections following the withdrawal of the three political heavyweights, Melvin Akam, journalist with the Cameroonian 'Le Messager' daily told IRIN. The Social Democratic Front (SDF), the Union Nationale pour la Democratie et le Progres (UNDP) and l'Union Democratique du Cameroun (UDC), which are boycotting these elections, reportedly won 60 percent of the vote in the 1992 polls. The opposition claim that the 1992 polls, which gave President Paul Biya another five-year mandate, were rigged. Akam said Cameroonians were more anxious about trouble erupting after rather than before polling day. A local source in Yaounde said that the army had been deployed in strategic areas. He said that the situation was calm but tense.

NIGER: Four patients die as strikes continue

Four hospital patients died allegedly due to a lack of medical care during this week's two-day strike by hospital staff. According to AFP, Niamey hospital, the largest in the country, was "totally paralysed". Health workers unions are demanding increased allowances following salary cuts last March. Niger's two major human rights bodies appealed to the government and strikers to resolve their differences rapidly. The two national teachers' unions also threatened industrial action if their demands were not met. Last week, a three-day strike by civil service workers ended inconclusively. The Union des Syndicats des Travailleurs du Niger (USTN), which brings together 30 mainly civil service unions, has called for further strike action on 21-23 October.

Abidjan, 3 October 1997

[ENDS]

[Via the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa (IRIN-WA) Reports mailing list. The material contained in this communication may not necessarily reflect the views of the UN or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts from this report should be attributed to the original sources where appropriate. For further information: e-mail irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci, Tel: +225 217367 Fax:+225 216335.]

Date: Sat, 4 Oct 1997 09:25:27 -0300 (GMT+3) From: UN DHA IRIN - Great Lakes <irin@dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 16-97 29 Sep - 3 Oct 1997 97.10.3 Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971004091907.10576C-100000@amahoro.dha.unon.org>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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