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IRIN-WA Update 318 of Events in West Africa (Friday 16 October 1998)
SIERRA LEONE: ICRC convoy ambushed, four dead
ICRC told IRIN today (Friday) that one of it convoys had been ambushed earlier this week in eastern Sierra Leone, leading to the deaths of four drivers working for a local transport company.
ICRC said the attack took place on Tuesday as a convoy of seven trucks was returning from distributing food in Zimmi, some 60 km south of the eastern provincial capital of Kenema.
According to an ICRC spokesperson, all the trucks were clearly marked with the Red Cross symbol. "We deplore the loss of innocent lives and condemn this serious violation of international humanitarian law," he said.
ICRC was only able to resume working in eastern Sierra Leone in May this year after troops loyal to President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah backed by the Nigerian-led West African intervention force in Sierra Leone, ECOMOG, wrested control of most of the area from the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
ICRC is involved in providing food, seeds and tools to some 9,000 farming families in this part of eastern Sierra Leone as well as supporting five health centres. The agency lost two staff members under similar circumstances in 1993.
Time "running out" for military detainees
Regional analysts warned IRIN today that "time was now running out" for military personnel convicted of treason as a second human rights organisation appealed for clemency for the 34 people sentenced to death last week by a court martial in Sierra Leone.
Human Rights Watch told IRIN it had sent an open letter to Kabbah appealing to him to show clemency for the soldiers, who included a former armed forces chiefs of staff and the brother of AFRC chairman Johnny Paul Koroma.
The New York-based human rights organisation said the court martial sentences on the 33 men and one woman had fallen short of international judicial standards because they had no legal right of appeal. Amnesty International also called for clemency earlier this week.
However, humanitarian sources in Freetown told IRIN that they believed President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah would have little public support for clemency. One regional analyst said the government was likely to go ahead with sentences against military personnel "very soon". Afterwards Kabbah could be in a stronger position to show leniency against another 16 civilians convicted in August of reason, he said.
UNITED NATIONS: UNHCR receives funds for Sierra Leone and Liberia
A UNHCR press release announced yesterday (Thursday) it had received US $3 million for its refugee operations in Sierra Leone and Liberia. The head of the UNHCR operations in the region, Abou Moussa, said the timing of the donations was important. "When we are stretching resources to ensure we can help Liberians who want to go home and Sierra Leoneans who are being chased from their country by war," he said.
The statement added that US $1.7 would be used for victims of violence in Sierra Leone where rebel fighters have been waging a campaign of terror against civilians. Moussa added that 475 Sierra Leonean refugees in Guinea, who have been mutilated or raped, have been receiving treatment.
UNHCR is currently assisting 400,000 Sierra Leoneans refugees in Guinea and Liberia.
NIGERIA: Government threatens crackdown on oil company attackers
Nigeria's federal government has threatened tough action against youths who continue to seize oil installations in the southern Niger Delta region, media reports said today. "Any disruption of production activities in these areas will be met with the full weight of the law," Information Minister John Nwodo told reporters after a cabinet meeting in Abuja, the capital.
Since attacks began mostly by Ijaw youths two weeks ago when they seized, AFP reported, oil exports have been slashed by more than 600,000 barrels per day (bpd). Under normal circumstances Nigeria, the world's sixth largest oil exporter, produces some two million bpd.
Nwodo said the seizure of oil flow stations has lost the US oil giant Chevron 105,000 bpd and the Angolo-Dutch giant, Shell, some 500,000 bpd. Italy's ENI and others, he said, were losing "substantial amounts", AFP reported.
Nigeria's oil sales account for about 90 percent of its export earnings, accounting for some 10 billion US dollars a year, AFP said.
GUINEA BISSAU: Humanitarian agencies to carry out assessment missions
An OCHA representative in Dakar told IRIN today that a food needs assessment mission would be undertaken next week in view of population movement in and out of the capital, Bissau. The source said following the outbreak of sporadic fighting last week Friday in Bissau a large number of residents had left the city, while others had returned.
This review would facilitate the delivery of humanitarian assistance. Meanwhile, a UN inter-agency mission is scheduled next week to carry out a rapid needs assessment in four locations simultaneously: Bissau city and its surroundings, Cacheu, Bafata and Bubuque. The findings would be used to update a July UN consolidated appeal, which requested for US $29 million. According to OCHA, the appeal has received 34.6 percent of the funding.
ICRC assists opposition in returning home
Members of a delegation representing the Guinea Bissau opposition were returned home under ICRC's protection on 8 October after being stranded in Gambia for a three-week period, an ICRC statement said today.
It said the delegation was unable to obtain safety guarantees for their return by air over the government held zone. The ICRC was approached by the government to arrange for the delegation to travel between the capital, Bissau. ICRC said it acted as a "neutral intermediary" to fly the delegation back after attending peace talks in Abidjan, capital of Cote d'Ivoire, in mid-September.
The conflict in Guinea Bissau erupted on 7 June when the president of Guinea Bissau, Joao Bernardo Vieria, sacked his chief army of staff, Ansumane Mane, on alleged charges of arms trafficking to the neighbouring southern province of Casamance in Senegal. A fragile ceasefire has been holding since September.
GABON: Presidential elections set for December
The Gabonese National Election Commission announced today that the first round of a presidential election would be held on 6 December, news agencies reported. The campaign is scheduled to commence on 5 November. Five candidates have announced their plans to run in the elections, among which the key opposition leader, Father Mba Abessole of the Rassemblement National des Bucherons (RNB). Current President Omar Bongo has not announced whether he intends to seek reelection. The BBC said it is widely expected that he would stand. The official deadline for candidate to file for the elections has been set for 21 October.
Abidjan 16 October 1998 18:00 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 or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to <archive@ocha.unon.org> - mailing list: irin-wa-updates]
Date: Fri, 16 Oct 1998 18:28:24 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 318 for 1998.10.16 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.981016182401.7784A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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