UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN-West Africa Update 167, 98.3.17

IRIN-West Africa Update 167, 98.3.17


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 167 of Events in West Africa, (Tuesday) 17 March 1998

WEST AFRICA: UNHCR to discuss refugee problem

The UNHCR Director for Western, Eastern and Central Africa Albert-Alain Peters has warned that 26,000 Sierra Leonean refugees were unlikely to return home before the end of the rainy season, PANA news agency reported. The six-month season begins in mid-May and will hinder deliveries of food and medical supplies. Fighting between rival militias is still continuing in Sierra Leone despite the restoration of democracy last week. Refugees, mainly women and children, are reportedly flooding into Flomia, 185KM north of Monrovia. Food supplies are scarce and Peters, who was in Liberia at the weekend, appealed to international donors for "badly needed assistance."

HCR West African representatives are due to meet in Abidjan on Tuesday, along with senior officials from Geneva. The talks will also highlight the process of repatriating and re-settling the 480,000 Liberian refugees scattered throughout the sub-region. Peters said the HCR's first objective was to verify the conditions for their return, as some refugees worry about lack of security, schools and jobs. Quoting a local representative of US-based Refugee International, Liberia's independent Star Radio said 250,000 Liberian refugees were suffering hardship in camps along the Guinean border, including inadequate food supplies.

Human rights "no luxury for Africa", says Kofi Annan

Africans must not view human rights as "a rich man's luxury for which Africa is not ready" or as a "Western conspiracy" but should instead see them as the root of the continent's "third wave of peace", the UN reported Secretary General Kofi Annan as saying on Monday. Opening the 54th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights in Geneva, Annan said that African misperceptions of the human rights issue demeaned the yearning for human dignity "that resides in every African heart." After decolonisation and the end of apartheid, democracy and human rights must be the third in a series of major transformations for a continent "marred" by civil war and military rule, said Annan.

SIERRA LEONE: UN lifts oil embargo

One week after democracy was restored in the country, the UN Security Council voted unanimously on Monday to lift the oil embargo on Sierra Leone with immediate effect. Under resolution 1156, the 15 members decided to maintain the embargo on arms until further review. The embargo was imposed in October 1997, five months after a military junta toppled President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.

Food situation improves, says WFP

The food situation in Sierra Leone is improving if only slowly, WFP reported on Tuesday. A WFP-chartered ship brought 1,700 MT of food into Freetown on 12 March and another 1,300 MT were loaded in Conakry last weekend. In the capital, the food situation is improving slowly. Rice prices have come down as another ship delivered 6,000 MT of the staple, while vegetables and other commodities were widely available as roads leading to up-country farms are becoming more accessible. WFP said that thanks to improved security it was currently exploring the possibility of moving food from Freetown to Bo and Kenema in central Sierra Leone.

Rebels "kill 50, take 200 hostages"

Rebels in the diamond district of Kono by the Guinean border have executed more than 50 civilians and are holding more than 200 hostages, Reuters reported quoting local sources. The civilians were executed in Koidu and other towns, according to a local chief. He added that the hostages included an unknown number of Lebanese, Nigerian and other West African nationals involved in the diamond business, and it was not clear where they were being held. Maxwell Khobe, commander of ECOMOG, said the West African intervention force was giving the rebels time to surrender in Koinu and Kailahun, the remaining major towns not yet under ECOMOG control. He also wanted to give civilians time to flee the area before the force attacked the rebels.

Local humanitarian sources, quoted by AFP, said that on Saturday troops from the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) looted and devastated the main hospital in Segbwema, south-west of Kailahun. Six clinics in nearby villages also came under RUF attacks, causing hundreds of people to seek shelter in the forest. The sources said that security in this area close to the RUF stronghold of Kailahun was poor and food supplies were scarce.

New government "by 25 March" - official

Re-instated President Kabbah on Monday assumed sweeping powers and dismissed his previous 45 ministers prior to appointing a new 15-membr government, the BBC and Reuters reported. The new powers allow Kabbah to detain suspects, restrict movements and requisition goods as part of efforts to deal with the 20 per cent of the country the government does not control, said the BBC.

Reuters quoted a presidential aide as saying that Kabbah would announce a new cabinet by 25 March. He will also appoint "technocrats" to a new National advisory committee to monitor the performance of the public sector. In the meantime the president has been meeting a number of foreign government officials and multilateral financial institutions.

AFP said a further five prominent civilians have been questioned by security officials over their alleged links with the junta. The five include junta sports minister Umaru Deen Sesay, state broadcasting director General Gipu Felix George, radio producer Dennis Smith, broadcaster Hilton Fyle and customs comptroller Aloysius Fofannah.

NIGERIA: Minister to brief diplomats over transition

In his first meeting so far this year with the diplomatic community on Wednesday, Nigerian Foreign Minister Chief Tom Ikimi is expected to discuss his government's plans to return the country to democracy, AFP said on Monday. According to AFP, the minister was likely to discuss other national and international issues, including Pope John Paul II's forthcoming visit and the situation in Sierra Leone, where Nigerian-led ECOMOG troops restored democracy last week.

Minister rebukes US government

In a statement quoted by Nigerian television on Monday, Nigerian Information Minister Chief Ike Obasey Mokelu rebuked recent remarks by Susan Rice, US Assistant State Secretary for African Affairs. Last week Rice warned Nigeria that a victory by "any military candidate" to the presidency would be "unacceptable" to the United States and might trigger further sanctions. Mokelu said Rice's remarks were "an insult and subtle threat to Nigeria, a sovereign nation," and as such they "cannot be tolerated."

Opposition cancels rally

Nigerian opposition groups on Monday called off a rally planned for Wednesday in defiance of police in Lagos after government supporters denied they had similar plans, Reuters reported. Daniel Kanu, an official with the National Council of Youth Associations of Nigeria (NCYAN), said that contrary to last week's press reports, supporters of military ruler Sani Abacha had "never planned a rally for Lagos." The NCYAN is one of the groups urging General Sani Abacha to stand for August's presidential election.

GUINEA-BISSAU: Parliament approves independent electoral commission

Ahead of July's general election, parliament authorised the creation of an independent electoral commission to supervise the whole electoral process, AFP reported. The permanent body's first tasks will be to compile a register of voters and launch a campaign in favour of the vote.

GUINEA: Senegalese editor expelled

Guinean authorities on Monday expelled a senior Senegalese journalist after several hours' interrogation by security services, AFP reported. No official reason was provided for the expulsion of Saliou Samb, assistant editor of Guinean weekly L'Independant. Samb, of mixed Senegalese and Guinean background, had been living in Guinea for the past five years. Earlier this month the popular publication's editor had been held by police for three days.

Abidjan, 17 March 1998, 16:15 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: Tue, 17 Mar 1998 16:18:10 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 167, 98.3.17 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980317161100.616A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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