UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
Tel: +225 21-73-54 Fax: +225 21-63-35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci
IRIN-WA Update 227 of Events in West Africa, (Thursday) 11 June 1998
GUINEA BISSAU: Fighting flares as foreign nationals
evacuate
Hundreds of Portuguese and other foreign nationals were
evacuated from Guinea Bissau by sea on Thursday during
a brief lull in fighting between government forces
and the supporters of a military rebellion, media reports
said.
According to Reuters, the foreign nationals gathered
at Bissau port to board a merchant vessel sent to evacuate
them. They included about 1,000 Portuguese, 70 French,
50 US citizens, as well as some Japanese, Brazilians
and other nationalities, media reports said.
Two Portuguese air force planes were also standing by
in nearby Cape Verde, the BBC reported. A further contingent
of US and French planes was also being readied in Senegal
to fly to Guinea Bissau when the situation allowed,
AFP reported.
But despite intense shelling, rebels maintained their
control of the main international airport and two army
barracks on the outskirts of the capital, Bissau, AFP
reported.
Final showdown
Media reports said government forces appeared to be
preparing for a final showdown after President Joao
Bernardo Vieira refused permission for national assembly
mediators to cross government lines to speak with the
rebels.
According to media reports, up to 1,700 troops from
Senegal and Guinea arrived in Bissau on Tuesday to
help the government.
The revolt started at the weekend following the appointment
of a new army chief of staff, General Humberto Gomes.
His predecessor, Absumane Mane, was suspended earlier
this year after several military officers were arrested
for allegedly smuggling weapons to separatist rebels
in Senegal's southern province of Casamance. Mane,
who declared himself head of a provisional military
government on Tuesday, has called for elections in
July.
NIGERIA: Abubakar faces sanctions call
As a leading opposition group called for international
sanctions against Nigeria's new military ruler, the
three-day regime of General Abdulsalam Abubakar also
faced its first high court challenge at home by pro-democracy
activists, news agencies reported on Wednesday.
According to Reuters, Abubakar set himself on a "collision
course" with Nigeria's opposition after he announced
on Wednesday he would follow the discredited democracy
plan of his predecessor, General Sani Abacha, who died
earlier this week from a heart attack.
In the high court challenge, Gani Fawehinmi from the
umbrella opposition group, the Joint Action Committee
of Nigeria (JACON), told a news conference in the commercial
capital, Lagos, it believed Abubakar's succession was
illegal and unconstitutional, AFP reported. Fawehinmi
said the army's Provisional Ruling Council had no legal
basis to appoint a new head of state.
Echoing these demands, the Lagos-based 'Post Express'
said the best the military could do for Nigeria was
prosecute the people's will. "Nigerians have made
it abundantly clear they do not want any more military
rule," the journal said.
According to media reports, the new government would
face the first real test of its commitment to transition
on Friday, when activists have called for mass street
protests to mark the fifth anniversary of the 1993
presidential elections annulled by the military. JACON
has also called for the immediate release of gaoled
millionaire businessman, Chief Moshood Abiola, the
presumed winner of the 1993 poll.
Lagos's military administrator, Colonel Mohammed Marwa,
warned would-be protestors in a television address
on Wednesday that they risked provoking a heavy response
to Friday's call-to-action.
SIERRA LEONE: United Nations assistance
UN Secretary General Kofi Annan has recommended the establishment of a UN peacekeeping mission for Sierra Leone comprising an unarmed military group of about 70 members. In a report to the Security Council he said the force would be deployed for about six months to help the West African ECOMOG intervention force disarm rebel fighters loyal to the ousted military junta.
His announcement coincided with a three-day visit to Sierra Leone by the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello.
American aid mission
In a related development on Thursday, AFP reported that the United States government would send a humanitarian mission to Sierra Leone at the weekend for a week-long visit. The American delegation, to be led by Under-Secretary of State Julia Taft, also planned to visit Guinea and would coordinate with European Union aid officials.
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Spanish quiet diplomacy
The Spanish government said on Wednesday it was engaged in "quiet" diplomacy with its European Union partners and the United States to secure clemency for 15 people sentenced to death following separatist attacks in the main island of Bioko last January, AFP reported.
The fresh efforts followed a series of international protests against the sentences. AFP quoted the Spanish foreign minister, Abel Mutates, as saying the latest attempt to seek clemency was not only for humanitarian reasons, but to ensure the credibility of the country's democratisation process.
GHANA: French aid
Ghana is to receive a US$ 2 million loan from the French government for the construction of two new electricity generating plants, AFP reported on Wednesday. It said the loan would be granted before the end of July. Ghana and its neighbours, Togo and Benin, have suffered an acute energy crisis this year caused by a reduction in capacity of Ghana's main Akosombo dam brought on by poor rains.
Abidjan, 11 June 1998, 1930 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, 11 Jun 1998 19:26:15 +0000 (GMT) Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 227, 98.6.11 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980611192122.19453A-p://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
Previous Menu | Home Page | What's New | Search | Country Specific |