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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 245 of Events in West Africa, (Tuesday) 07 July 1998
NIGERIA: Abiola, key political prisoner dies
Nigeria's most prominent political prisoner, Moshood Abiola, died of a heart attack on Tuesday, media reports said, quoting a government announcement. It said Abiola, 60, had "taken ill during a meeting" with the country's new military ruler, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, and the visiting US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Thomas Pickering.
"With the consent of his family, the federal government has ordered a full post-mortem examination to ascertain the actual cause of death with the full participation of his personal physicians," the statement said. Analysts said hopes for a major reduction in political tension in Nigeria were pinned on Abiola's impending release which was announced during a high profile visit last week by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Nike Ransome-Kuti, a prominent human rights activist, told IRIN on Tuesdsay: "Politically it is too early to say what the impact will be."
There was no immediate comment from US officials from the delegation other than a statement describing the talks with Abubakar as "frank and friendly". Abubakar, according to a presidential statement carried by news agencies, told his American guests "the time was ripe for the US government and the European Union to lift the sanctions on Nigeria".
In 1993, the United States and the EU imposed limited military and administrative sanctions on Nigeria following the voiding of the presidential election that year and continued military rule. The sanctions were tightened in 1995 after the execution of minority rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others.
Abubakar, who took power on 9 June, hours after the death of his predecessor, General Sani Abacha, has already released around 30 political prisoners and engaged in talks with opposition leaders. Pickering is the highest ranking American official to visit the country since the sanctions were imposed.
GUINEA BISSAU: Rebel leader willing to end fighting
In an interview with Portuguese television, the leader of the army mutiny in Guinea Bissau, General Ansumane Mane, has indicated his willingness to end the revolt now running into its fifth week. He said in the interview on Monday he would be willing to negotiate for peace, but only under certain conditions.
In the interview, also aired on Portuguese radio, Mane listed the departure of all foreign troops from the country as the sole condition under which he would halt fighting. "The junta has been willing to negotiate since the first day, but this is not a sign of weakness. The junta is willing to negotiate to prevent further human loss," Mane said.
President Joao Bernardo Vieira has consistently maintained that rebels should lay down their arms before he would engage in any dialogue. Forces from Senegal and Guinea were sent in to help Vieira quell the rebellion which began after Mane's dismissal for illegal arms trafficking in early June.
Mane also said he would be willing to open the country's airport to humanitarian flights, the Portuguese reports added.
Senegalese-backed government troops advance on airport
In a dispatch quoting diplomats, AFP said Senegalese and loyalist troops made headway towards the rebel-held airport in Bissau on Tuesday after heavy artillery exchanges at the weekend. It said military sources indicated the airport could be recaptured in a matter of hours.
In the meantime, AFP said, rebel forces had broadcast a ceasefire offer and also demanded the establishement of a peacekeeping force comprised of Portuguese-speaking nations.
Parliament offers to begin new mediation attempts
The Permanent Commission of Guinea Bissau's national parliament decided to begin a new mediation attempt to end to the fighting. A spokesman for the Commission told the Portuguese news agency, Lusa, that it hoped to gain the support of the both warring parties. Earlier efforts at mediation have so far failed.
GHANA: Ruling party members challenge Rawlings
Several members of Ghana's ruling National Democratic Congress have published a full-page statement in local newspapers challenging President Jerry Rawlings' leadership, the BBC reported on Monday. The group calling itself Members for Reform, criticised Rawlings for what they called the undemocratic manner in which he appointed his current deputy. The advertisements also accused the party of corruption and intimidation. It was the first such public act of dissatisfaction and came three months before a national party congress, the BBC report said.
WEST AFRICA: Air Afrique
The West African regional carrier, Air Afrique, saw its fleet reduced by four aircraft on Tuesday following a decision by the troubled airline to hand over its four airbuses to creditors in default of debts, PANA news agency reported. The company said that the surrender of the four aircraft would meet part of the estimated 31 billion CFA francs (600 CFA= US$ 1) Air Afrique is said to owe creditors, the PANA report said. Air Afrique is owned by eleven Francophone countries in west and central Africa.
West African Monetary Union
A regional monetary grouping of West African countries has praised the economic performance of its member countries, AFP reported. A statement issued in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, on Monday at the end of a meeting of finance ministers of the Union Economique et Monetaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA), congratulated the "positive progress of major macro-economic indicators in member countries". The statement recommended the setting up of joint ventures between member countries, especially in areas of energy, water and food production. The eight-member body is made up of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Guinea-Bissau, in the main former French colonies which share a common currency backed by the French Treasury called the CFA.
Abidjan, 7 July 1998, 19:30 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]
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19:31:46 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org>
To: irin-wa-updates@dha.unon.org Subject: IRIN-West
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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 245 of Events in West Africa, (Tuesday) 7 July 1998
NIGERIA: Abiola, key political prisoner dies
Nigeria's most prominent political prisoner, Moshood Abiola, died of a heart attack on Tuesday, media reports said, quoting a government announcement. It said Abiola, 60, had "taken ill during a meeting" with the country's new military ruler, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, and the visiting US Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs, Thomas Pickering.
"With the consent of his family, the federal government has ordered a full post-mortem examination to ascertain the actual cause of death with the full participation of his personal physicians," the statement said. Analysts said hopes for a major reduction in political tension in Nigeria were pinned on Abiola's impending release which was announced during a high profile visit last week by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan.
Nike Ransome-Kuti, a prominent human rights activist, told IRIN on Tuesdsay: "Politically it is too early to say what the impact will be."
There was no immediate comment from US officials other than a statement describing the talks with Abubakar as "frank and friendly". Abubakar, according to a presidential statement carried by news agencies, told his American guests "the time was ripe for the US government and the European Union to lift the sanctions on Nigeria".
In 1993, the United States and the EU imposed limited military and administrative sanctions on Nigeria following the voiding of the presidential election that year and continued military rule. The sanctions were tightened in 1995 after the execution of minority rights activist Ken Saro-Wiwa and eight others.
Abubakar, who took power on 9 June, hours after the death of his predecessor, General Sani Abacha, has already released around 30 political prisoners and engaged in talks with opposition leaders. Pickering is the highest ranking American official to visit the country since the sanctions were imposed.
GUINEA BISSAU: Rebel leader willing to end fighting
In an interview with Portuguese television, the leader of the army mutiny in Guinea Bissau, General Ansumane Mane, has indicated his willingness to end the revolt now running into its fifth week. He said in the interview on Monday he would be willing to negotiate for peace, but only under certain conditions.
In the interview, also aired on Portuguese radio, Mane listed the departure of all foreign troops from the country as the sole condition under which he would halt fighting. "The junta has been willing to negotiate since the first day, but this is not a sign of weakness. The junta is willing to negotiate to prevent further human loss," Mane said.
President Joao Bernardo Vieira has consistently maintained that rebels should lay down their arms before he would engage in any dialogue. Forces from Senegal and Guinea were sent in to help Vieira quell the rebellion which began after Mane's dismissal for illegal arms trafficking in early June.
Mane also said he would be willing to open the country's airport to humanitarian flights, the Portuguese reports added.
Senegalese-backed government troops advance on airport
In a dispatch quoting diplomats, AFP said Senegalese and loyalist troops made headway towards the rebel-held airport in Bissau on Tuesday after heavy artillery exchanges at the weekend. It said military sources indicated the airport could be recaptured in a matter of hours.
In the meantime, AFP said, rebel forces had broadcast a ceasefire offer and also demanded the establishement of a peacekeeping force drawn from Portuguese-speaking nations.
Parliament offers to begin new mediation attempts
The Permanent Commission of Guinea Bissau's national parliament has decided to begin a new mediation attempt to end to the fighting. A spokesman for the Commission told the Portuguese news agency, Lusa, on Tuesday that it hoped to gain the support of the both warring parties. Earlier efforts at mediation have so far failed.
GHANA: Ruling party members challenge Rawlings
Several members of Ghana's ruling National Democratic Congress have published a full-page statement in local newspapers challenging President Jerry Rawlings' leadership, the BBC reported on Monday.
The group calling itself Members for Reform, criticised Rawlings for what they called the undemocratic manner in which he appointed his current deputy. The advertisements also accused the party of corruption and intimidation.
It was the first such public act of dissatisfaction and came three months before a national party congress, the BBC report said.
WEST AFRICA: Air Afrique
The West African regional carrier, Air Afrique, saw its fleet reduced by four aircraft on Tuesday following a decision by the troubled airline to hand over its four airbuses to creditors in default of debts, PANA news agency reported. The company said that the surrender of the four aircraft would meet part of the estimated 31 billion CFA francs (600 CFA=US$ 1) Air Afrique is said to owe creditors, the PANA report said.
Air Afrique is owned by eleven Francophone countries in west and central Africa.
West African Monetary Union
A regional monetary grouping of West African countries has praised the economic performance of its member countries, AFP reported.
A statement issued in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, on Monday at the end of a meeting of finance ministers of the Union Economique et Monetaire Ouest Africaine (UEMOA), congratulated the "positive progress of major macro-economic indicators in member countries".
The statement recommended the setting up of joint ventures between member countries, especially in areas of energy, water and food production.
The eight-member body is made up of Benin, Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Mali, Niger, Senegal, Togo and Guinea-Bissau, in the main former French colonies which share a common currency backed by the French Treasury called the CFA.
Abidjan, 7 July 1998, 19:30 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: Wed, 8 Jul 1998 19:55:03 +0000 (GMT) Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 245, 98.7.7 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980708195046.12117A-tp://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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