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IRIN-WA Update 278 of Events in West Africa, (Friday) 21 August 1998
SIERRA LEONE: ECOMOG reports losses in battle
The West African intervention force, ECOMOG, said its troops and rebel fighters had suffered heavy casualties this week in clashes in northeastern Sierra Leone, news agencies reported on Friday. Reuters quoted ECOMOG Force Commander Brigadier-General Abu Ahmadu as saying that "ECOMOG and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels had suffered heavy casualties" during three separate clashes in the Kono and Koinadugu districts.
Ahmadu did not give a detailed breakdown of casualty figures. But he said several Guinean soldiers with ECOMOG had been killed in a battle in the town of Alkalia in the Koinadugu district. He warned that ECOMOG would move decisively against the rebels, but would avoid putting the civilian population at risk.
The ECOMOG Commander said the clashes had intensified after an RUF ultimatum that it would unleash "Operation Spare no Soul" if its detained leader Foday Sankoh were not released. Sankoh was brought back to Freetown in July after his detention for more than a year in Nigeria.
The last big rebel stronghold is Kailahun in the diamond-rich eastern Sierra Leone. ECOMOG has been engaged in fierce battles with rebel fighters in the northern and eastern part of the country during the last few months.
More than 2,000 fighters to be demobilised
Meanwhile, a UN source in the capital, Freetown, told IRIN on Friday that some 2,224 combatants, who had surrendered to ECOMOG, were to be turned over to the Demobilisation, Disarmament and Rehabilitation (DDR) programme for registration. The source added that the official opening ceremony of the Lungi demobilisation camp, 10 km east of Freetown, was scheduled for 22 August, signalling the beginning of the reintegration process of combatants into civilian life. The DDR programme is jointly run by the government of Sierra Leone, the UN, ECOMOG and donor governments.
Brigadier-General Maxwell Khobe, Chief of Defence Staff in Sierra Leone, said the surrendered fighters were from the Sierra Leone army, the RUF and a defunct Liberian faction, the National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL), AFP reported.
Alleged coup plotters released
Scores of civilians and 31 police officers were released after months in detention for their alleged role in the May 1997 coup d'etat, which toppled the civilian government of Sierra Leone, Reuters reported on Thursday. A special commission said the release of the detainees was based on lack of evidence of their involvement in toppling President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. A deputy police commissioner, 30 police officers and about 50 civilians were freed. The Commission was mandated to gather evidence on the defendants' role in the 1997 May coup d'etat.
ECOMOG evicted the military junta in February 1998, paving the way for Kabbah's return to power.
GUINEA BISSAU: Senegal's military presence justified
Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama has said the presence of Senegalese troops in Guinea Bissau was justified by the security situation in the province of Casamance, which shares its border with Guinea Bissau, Portuguese Radio Renascenca reported on Thursday. The separatist Mouvement des Forces Democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) has been engaged in an intermittent campaign against the Senegalese army since the Eighties.
In remarks after a meeting with Senegalese President Abdou Diouf, Gama was quoted as saying Senegal's concern that Guinea Bissau should not be used as a "base for guerrilla activity in Casamance" was "legitimate". Last month, the Portuguese Secretary of State Luis Amado had described Senegal's intervention as "harmful" to the peace process.
A mutiny broke out on 7 June, when the President of Guinea Bissau, Joao Bernardo Vieira, sacked his armed forces army chief of staff, General Ansumane Mane, for allegedly trafficking weapons to Casamance sepratists.
Gama had met Diouf on Wednesday to discuss the peace process in Guinea Bissau since a ceasefire signed on 26 July.
NIGERIA: Abubakar names new cabinet
The Nigerian military ruler, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, named a new cabinet on Thursday, dropping most of the team appointed by his hardline predecessor, General Sani Abacha, news organisations reported.
The new 31-member cabinet includes civilians and retired and serving military officers, but has no notable opposition figures. Nine members of the previous cabinet are retained, but key ministers of oil, finance, and foreign affairs failed to keep their posts.
Government sources, quoted by Reuters, said it had taken the government a long time to name a cabinet because of the difficulty of finding participants from Nigeria's different regions and dissent within the military council on who should be appointed. The report added that Abubakar had had to "balance different interests at a very critical time. It is not a decision which could be rushed". Abubakar dismissed the previous cabinet last month.
The distribution of portfolios among the new cabinet would be announced on Saturday at a swearing-in ceremony in the capital, Abuja.
Abubakar expected on Tuesday in South Africa
The South African authorities announced that Abubakar would make an official visit to South Africa on Tuesday 25 August, news organisations said on Thursday. Reuters quoted Presidential spokesman Park Mankahlana as saying that Abubakar would meet South African President Nelson Mandela and make an address to parliament. Mankahlana said Abubakar's visit would provide "an opportunity to exchange views with him and enable him to explain to the South African government what his intentions are".
LIBERIA: Opposition official released
The Supreme Court of Liberia ordered on Thursday the release of deputy information minister Milton Teahjay, who was detained on contempt of court charges, news agencies reported. No official reason was given for Teahjay's release two days before completing the five-day sentence. He was convicted for describing the judiciary system as "rotten" during a talk show. Liberian Chief Justice Gloria Scott said the minister's remark "undermined the credibility of the judiciary".
Teahjay is a member of the opposition United People's Party (UPP).
Abidjan, 21 August, 1998 18:30 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 or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to <archive@ocha.unon..org> - mailing list: irin-wa-updates]
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1998 18:35:29 +0000 (GMT) Subject: IRIN West Africa Update 278, 98.8.21 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980821183432.30259B-D N A T I O N S
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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