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IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 25-97 of Main Events in West Africa covering the period (Friday) 28 November - (Thursday) 4 December 1997
[The weekly round-ups are based on relevant information from UN agencies, NGOs, governments, donors and media. IRIN issues these reports for the benefit of the humanitarian community but accepts no responsibility as to the accuracy of the original source.]
LIBERIA: Opposition politician dead
President Charles Taylor announced the death this week of one of Liberia's most prominent opposition politicians. The politician, Samuel Dokie, had been reported missing since 30 November when he was allegedly abducted by security men. As Taylor ordered flags flown at half mast on Friday for someone he described as a "gentleman", he pledged a full investigation. A former political ally of the president and deputy speaker of the Transitional Legislative Assembly, Dokie was a member of the opposition Unity Party led by Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf.
Amnesty International said that Dokie, his wife Janet, herself the former internal affairs minister, a male relative and a bodyguard, had been held by "unidentified security officials apparently acting on behalf of the Special Security Service (SSS) who stated that the four were wanted in Monrovia for security reasons."
Taylor described the discovery of their bodies near Gbarnga as "gruesome" but gave no further details. One Liberian newspaper, 'The Inquirer', cited unconfirmed reports as saying their remains had in fact been found in the burnt wreckage of a car.
It was "disturbing", Taylor said, that anyone would want to create a crisis of this nature at a time of reconstruction in Liberia when the government was trying to regain the confidence of the international community. In his broadcast announcing Dokie's death, Taylor said: "I am saddened to report to the state that the Dokies are dead. I can assure you that this act will not go unpunished. The law will definitely take its course."
Peacekeeping tensions
Taylor visited Guinea on Monday for talks on regional security and to discuss ways of revitalising the former Mano River Union which groups Liberia Guinea and Sierra Leone. On Thursday, he met the Nigerian leader, General Sani Abacha, in Abuja in an attempt to resolve friction between the Liberian authorities and the Nigerian commander of the West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, General Victor Malu, over plans to form a national army. Taylor was concerned that the arrangement could infringe on Liberia's security.
SIERRA LEONE: Public executions by firing squad
Eight suspected armed robbers were executed by firing squad before a capacity crowd in the football stadium of the diamond mining town of Koidu, some 250 km east of Freetown this week.The execution, authorities said, was aimed at serving as an example to anyone caught violating a new decree making looting and the possession of stolen property punishable by death. The decree of 28 November was back-dated to 26 May - the day after the overthrow of President Alhaj Ahmad Tejan Kabbah.The country's Society for the Advancement of Civil Rights, however, described the executions as "extra-judicial killings" because it said there was no indication as to whether any of those shot in front the crowd had been tried or even granted legal representation.
Humanitarian assistance still to be delivered
Nearly three weeks after humanitarian assistance operations into Sierra Leone from Guinea aid were due to resume, the aid remained blocked because of "difficulties" over inspecting cargoes at the Guinea border. If the situation was to be resolved, a humanitarian source told IRIN, either ECOMOG would have to deploy to the border, or Guinean customs men would have to be given the authority to examine the cargo. "We will have to wait a few days before things are clarified," said the ECOMOG deputy commander, Brigadier General J.A. Kwateng. A humanitarian source explained that "the challenge for agencies is not to let aid be linked to the political process."
Enforcing the blockade
The military government of Major Johnny Paul Koroma sent a letter this week to Abacha in his capacity as current chairman of the Economic Community of West Africa States (ECOWAS) appealing for an end to the sanctions. "The continuing sanctions," he wrote, "make neither sense, nor can it be in the interests of peace, and of ordinary people." The letter was sent a day after Sierra Leone's military rulers complained that at least three Nigerian ships were deployed off the coast, a charge denied as "rubbish" by Gen. Kwateng who insisted that only one vessel was at hand to help maintain the embargo.
Missing funds
In a separate controversy, the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) claimed that US$ 8 million had gone missing from a frozen government account in the United States to which Kabbah had access - a charge later denied by Washington. A US government source in Washington told IRIN that there had been no change in policy on Sierra Leone and that Washington still recognised Kabbah, not the AFRC which ousted him. The source added: "Life-saving humanitarian assistance has always continued to victims of the conflict in Sierra Leone." However, he stressed only development aid had been suspended.
NIGERIA: Gearing up for the election
Africa's most populous state geared up this week for the election on Saturday of representatives to 36 state parliaments, a key part of process towards the transition to civilian rule pledged by Abacha. Yet as campaigning heated up, the first indication of serious problems was reported from Warri, a midwestern Niger delta oil town where the vote was officially postponed with no indication as to when it would be re-scheduled.The reason, according to a newspaper, was that the authorities felt the "fragile peace"in Warri could not be guaranteed. Scores of people were killed in the area and its oil production disrupted last March when the Ijaws, Nigeria's fourth largest ethnic community, complained that changes in local border demarcations had given the rival Itsekiri tribe greater influence.
Cabinet appointments still to be announced.
Almost three weeks since the sacking of the government, Abacha, who may assume the title of "president", was still to announce the full list of new ministers. So far, only three ministers have been reappointed. They include Foreign Affairs Minister Tom Ikimi. Detainees still await release or pardons
The Nigerian Guild of Editors has urged the government to charge or release six journalists who were detained in the past month, in what it described as actions counter-productive to the transition to civilian rule. The Abacha government has also declined to release a list of other detainees due to be pardoned.
NIGER: A fresh peace
The government of Niger signed a peace accord this week with Tuareg Union des Forces de la Resistance Armee (UFRA) and the Toubou Forces Armees Revolutionnaires du Sahara (FARS) after two weeks of negotiations sponsored by Algeria. The accord signed in Algiers, provided for an immediate ceasefire, an exchange of prisoners, de-mining operations and the disarming of Tuareg and Toubou fighters. Under plans to be followed in further talks in the capital, Niamey, they also decided to give some 6,000 rebels the choice of joining the national army or returning to civilian life.A 1995 peace plan with the Tuaregs disintegrated in September when they accused the government of failing to implement the terms of that treaty, and during clashes in the meantime, at least 60 people are reported to have died.
New Niger government includes a Cra rebel
Niger's new prime minister, Hassane Mayaki, named a new cabinet with 22 members this week. They included Risa Bula, a former leader of the Agadez region Cra rebels, who was given the tourism portfolio.
Former leaders hand themselves in as "political prisoners"
The former president of Niger, Mahamane Ousmane, his one-time prime minister Mahamdou Issouffou and another opposition leader handed themselves over to the police as "political prisoners" this week to protest the detention of a polical ally. Ali Sabot, they said, had been detained in October for allegedly criticising President Ibrahim Bare Mainssara. They also demanded fresh elections.
MAURITANIA: Election campaigning The coalition of opposition parties said it would step up its campaign for a boycott of the presidential election scheduled for 12 December. The election is noted for the fact that it includes the first black Mauritanian to run for the presidency. The candidate, Ahmadou Moctar Kane, is a 57-year-old retired hospital administrator, has been campaigning as an independent candidate without party affiliation.
CHAD: The search for an end to the last rebel conflict
At least seven civilians died in a rebel attack by the Forces Armees pour une Republique Federale (FARF) as tensions run high over plans to integrate FARF forces into the army and end one of the country's last rebellions. President Idriss Deby said he still wanted to achieve peace with the FARF despite the 29 November attack.
TOGO: Editor detained
Newspaper publisher Kodjo Afatso Silidian was detained for printing material deemed offensive to President Gnassingbe Eyadema.
WEST AFRICA
AIDS week
Thousands of people turned out for the rally in Lagos on Monday marking World Aids Day. In a country where until recently Aids has been a taboo subject, dancers and singers took to the streets in processions with banners advertising the merits of condoms. According to official figures, the number of people contracting the HIV virus in Nigeria is almost doubling each year. Experts fear that more than a third of the country's 104 million people could become HIV-positive within decades.
Although accurate data for West African nations is still being researched, in Liberia officially 10 people have died of AIDS, and 151 reported suffering from the syndrome since it was initially reported in 1986. Officials have acknowledged however that proper clinical checks had been disrupted by the civil war and that comprenhensive studies were only beginning.
In Cote d'Ivoire, the West African country worst affected by AIDS, it was reported that more than 1 million people were HIV-positive.
Customs union on hold
The West African Economic and Monetary Union (UEOMA) postponed a customs pact, delaying until January 2000 measures aimed at fixing a common import tariff of 20 percent.
Abidjan, 5 December 1997 20:00 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-weekly]
Date: Fri, 5 Dec 1997 20:46:00 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 25-97, 28 November-4 December 97.12.5 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971205203805.24928A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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