UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN-WA Update 250 of Events in West Africa, 14 July 1998

IRIN-WA Update 250 of Events in West Africa, 14 July 1998


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 250 of Events in West Africa, (Tuesday) 14 July 1998

GUINEA BISSAU: Fresh fighting breaks out in capital

As fresh fighting erupted on Monday in the capital, Bissau, between pro-government forces backed by Senegalese forces and rebels fighters, Senegal agreed to open its border with Guinea Bissau to allow the delivery of humanitarian aid to trapped civilians, media reports said.

The Portuguese television station, RTP1, reported on that Senegalese forces, backing President Joao Bernardo Vieira, were believed to have advanced closer to the rebel stronghold in the Bra military complex near the airport. Avito Da Silva, Guinea Bissau Minister for rural development, said in Luanda, Angola, on Monday that government-backed forces would "take the airport area soon," Angolan state radio reported. The airport's runways were badly damaged by shellfire and roads leading to the airport mined by rebels, AFP said. The military complex and the airport have been under rebel control shortly after the rebellion broke out on 7 June.

Meanwhile, Portuguese news agency, Lusa, reported that around 10 people had been killed in the recent round of fighting. However, no official figures were available. The Vatican news agency, MISNA, quoting a Portuguese diplomat, said an unidentified number of foreigners were waiting to be evacuated from Bissau, most of them were apparently associated with the Catholic Church.

The mutiny started when General Ansumane Mane, accused of running weapons to separatists in Senegal's troubled Casamance province across the border, was dismissed as Guinea Bissau army chief.

Senegal agrees to open border

A UNHCR spokesman quoted by AFP, said on Tuesday a convoy of 10 lorries had left Niamey, capital of Niger, for Guinea Bissau following an agreement with Senegalese President Abdou Diouf to open its borders. Sadako Ogata, UN High Commissioner for Refugees had written a letter to Diouf last week requesting that Senegal open its border for emergency supplies. The UN estimates that some 350,000 people have been displaced by the fighting.

UN, EU again call for ceasefire

The UN Security Council and the European Union (EU) have reiterated their concern over the deteriorating situation in Guinea Bissau. A UN statement quoted the President of the Security Council, Sergey Lavrov, as calling upon the parties to engage in a "meaningful and constructive dialogue" and to allow the "unimpeded delivery of emergency aid". The EU foreign ministers in a statement mirrored UN concerns and called for the "opening of humanitarian corridors", Reuters said.

Mediation efforts intensify

Mediation efforts to end the conflict have intensified in recent days ahead of a meeting on Thursday of the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) in West African island of Cape Verde, news reports said. Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama met on Tuesday in Banjul, with the Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, Lusa reported, while a Guinea Bissau envoy was visiting Luanda. News reports said the Prime Minister of Guinea Bissau, Carlos Correia, was expected on Tuesday in Dakar on a one-day visit.

NIGERIA: Army chief speaks of commitment to democracy

Nigeria's army chief of staff, Major General Ishaiya Bamaiyi, has said that the country's rulers were committed to restoring democracy, AFP reported on Tuesday. The general, described as a known military hardliner and former staunch ally of the General Sani Abacha, the late military ruler made the remarks to a group of junior army officers in Lagos, the economic capital.

"I would like to restate the commitment of the federal military government to bestow on the nation a credible democratic government," Bamaiyi was quoted as saying. He also made a call for loyalty to the new regime of General Abdulsalam Abubakar which has released about 30 political prisoners and promised to end years of corrupt military rule.

Abubakar took power on June 9 a day after Abacha's death. The transition plan has been set back by the death in prison last week of the country's key opposition leader, Moshood Abiola, which sparked sporadic violence.

New appointments

The Nigerian authorities meanwhile have reshuffled a number of key military posts, according to media reports on Tuesday. In the most important of these, Major General Victor Malu, the former head of the West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, was appointed to take charge of Lagos Garrison Command, which controls all troops in and around Nigeria's largest city of eight million people. Lagos is the opposition's bastion, where riots flared last week after Abiola's death.

Europe presses for more change

In Brussels, the European Union said it would lift sanctions against Nigeria if Abubakar moved towards democracy, AFP reported on Tuesday. It quoted Austrian Foreign Minister Wolfgang Schussel as saying after a meeting of EU foreign ministers which he chaired: "We have launched a very clear signal to General Abubakar. If he continues to move towards democracy continues we will react positively in terms of sanctions."

Nigeria has been subject to EU sanctions including an arms embargo and a ban on the issuing of visas to senior officials since November 1995, when the writer Ken Saro Wiwa was executed by the Abacha military regime.

Questions over Abacha's death

Meanwhile, the US State Department said it had reports that Abacha, who died suddenly last month, was poisoned. The Nigerian government has said officially that he died of a sudden heart attack at his villa. However, State Department spokesman James Rubin said the information was not conclusive.

SIERRA LEONE: UN to send peacekeepers

The UN Security Council has voted unanimously to set up a small peacekeeping operation in Sierra Leone for an initial six-months to help disarm forces loyal to the country's former military government, a UN statement reported. Rebel fighters have been active in eastern Sierra Leone and blamed for recent atrocities against civilians, including rape, murder and maiming. The Kenyan envoy to the UN said former junta members were committing "unspeakable atrocities" which served "no military or strategic value." The military observers would work with the West African intervention force, ECOMOG, and the democratically-elected government of Sierra Leone in re-establishing stability. Analysts, quoted by the BBC, said the presence of military observers would probably make ECOMOG more effective in restoring order in the east.

The UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) would consist of 70 military observers, a small medical unit and civilian support staff.

National army disbanded

The Sierra Leonean national army has been disbanded following plans to establish a new force, AFP reported, quoting a senior policy advisor in Sierra Leone. "The army had become highly politicised, partisan, corrupt, lacked discipline and had been comprised," said Sidi Alghali, member of the government-appointed National Policy Advisory Committee. He added that the new army would comprise 5,000 men and women, and would not be dominated by any one ethnic group. However, 1,000 members of the old army, mainly technicians, would be retained. Militia groups would also be disbanded and demobilised, but would be used as an auxiliary force.

CAMEROON: Journalist detained

The authorities in Cameroon have been held a newspaper editor in detention since 2 July, the freedom of speech watchdog Reporters sans Frontieres said on Tuesday. In a letter to President Paul Biya, it urged him to charge or release Patrick Tchouwa, director of the magazine 'Le jeune detective', which is based in the capital city, Douala. It said he had been held in Elig-Essono police station following an article on the embezzlement of public funds.

WEST AFRICA: ECOMOG' expanding role

Security experts of the 16 countries of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) met in The Gambia capital of Banjul on Tuesday to discuss further what role if any an ECOMOG intervention could play in war-torn Guinea Bissau, media reports said.

Although no further details of the talks on Guinea Bissau were given, officials were quoted as saying the meeting was aimed at creating a conflict prevention and resolution mechanism to maintain peace and security in West Africa.

Shelpidi cites language barriers in ECOMOG

Earlier, the ECOMOG commander, Major General Timothy Shelpidi, had told a weekend ECOWAS forum that the peacekeeping force could become a model for the region if its member government could overcome language barriers and develop the will to improve regional understanding.

He told the forum in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, that soldiers in member states should learn French and English, their equipment should be standardised, and adequate funding allocated so that it did not have to depend on how much individual nations were prepared to pay at a given time.

US Government warning on capital flight

The United States Treasury Secretary, Robert Rubin, has labelled capital flight one of the key constraints to economic growth in Africa, news reports said on Tuesday. Speaking in Ivory Coast at the start of a five-nation Africa tour, Rubin said about 40% of the private wealth of Africans was held outside Africa, thus discouraging investment on the continent.

Abidjan, 14 July, 1815 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, 14 Jul 1998 18:16:02 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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