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IRIN-WA Update 394 of Events in West Africa (Wednesday 3 February)
SIERRA LEONE: Commonwealth chief stresses urgent need for solution
Commonwealth Secretary-General Chief Emeka Anyaoku told IRIN today (Wednesday) he hoped his appeal for international intervention in Sierra Leone would lead to genuine negotiations for peace. He said there were two main areas where aid should be given, namely to help the West African intervention force ECOMOG in its peacekeeping activities and assist the Sierra Leone government cope with the consequences of the brutal war. In a news release yesterday (Tuesday), the Secretary-General called for "firm and unequivocal action" from the international community to stop Sierra Leone sliding into a "Dark Age".
He told IRIN he was concerned over the planned withdrawal of Nigerian peacekeepers in May, saying Sierra Leone's record pointed to the fact there would be "no end of atrocities" unless a solution were found. With the Nigerian pullout it was hoped contributing countries could be persuaded to stay on to oversee peace in Sierra Leone, thus reducing the financial burden on ECOMOG. Chief Anyaoku noted the international community had expressed willingness to help in the war-ravaged region of Kosovo in former Yugoslavia, and hoped it would react in the same way towards Sierra Leone. Furthermore, an international presence in Sierra Leone could deter human rights abuses. On the humanitarian situation, Chief Anyaoku said the Commonwealth would play a coordinating role for assistance.
He added that he met the Liberian foreign minister in London yesterday and while he would not give details of the talks, he stressed all sides could "see the merit in joining together to stop the war". Liberia has denied accusations it is helping the rebels fight the Sierra Leone government.
Government to investigate alleged sale of humanitarian aid
The Sierra Leone government today said it was unaware of the alleged reselling of humanitarian aid, but would launch a full-scale investigation. Presidential spokesman Septimus Kaikai told IRIN the claims were very serious because humanitarian aid was free and should not be used for profit. He said he hoped the allegations were wrong. Dr Jacques Beres, a surgeon with Medecins du Monde (MDM) which recently withdrew from Freetown, said yesterday his team could no longer operate there as local medical staff were demanding payment for operations and medicine.
Rebels emerging at night "to terrorise"
Humanitarian sources said rebels in Freetown seem to have maintained their strategy of hiding in the hills during the day and emerging at night to terrorise civilians and attack ECOMOG positions. They cited ECOMOG sources as saying women and children were increasingly being used by the rebels to implement their plans. Some children who had been used to carry out amputations and other atrocities were captured by ECOMOG who said it would release them to UNICEF.
The number of registered displaced people in Freetown stood at 126,000, the sources said. In other parts of the country, around Kenema, rebels had been active but ECOMOG had repelled the attacks and said it was fully in control of the situation. In Bo, the number of displaced people was still low but tension was rising, while in Kambia food and medical supplies were running out, but no acute emergency had yet been reported.
The UN Secretary-General's special representative, Francis Okelo, meanwhile stressed the humanitarian situation was still acute and required both a regional and international response.
GUINEA BISSAU: Ceasefire agreement signed
Guinea Bissau's beleaguered President Joao Bernardo Vieira and a mutinous military junta trying to overthrow him, led by General Ansumane Mane, signed a ceasefire today on the fourth day of intensive fighting in the capital, Bissau, news reports said.
The truce was brokered by Togo's foreign and defence ministers, Joseph Koffigoh and Assani Tidjani, who arrived in the battered capital just after midday. They were sent by Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema in his capacity as chairman of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) of which Guinea Bissau is a member.
The agreement followed heavy artillery and mortar fire duels in the city earlier today as the anti-government military junta launched a renewed and determined drive to crush loyalist and allied foreign forces still holding a part of the city.
A Roman Catholic missionary in the city, Father Mario Faccioli, told RDP Antena 1 radio of Libson the city was "like hell" during the fighting. "The shells and grenades are exploding everywhere." He said there were "many dead and many wounded".
ECOMOG troops still at sea
Additional ECOMOG peacekeeping troops, which were due to disembark in Bissau when the fighting erupted on Sunday, were still aboard the French warship, Le Siroco, late yesterday waiting for an improvement of the situation before going ashore, AFP said. The departure of 132 Gambians to join ECOMOG has also been delayed by the fighting, Gambia's deputy army commander, Lieutenant Colonel Samsudeen Sarr, was quoted as saying. Benin is also due to send troops. An advance Togolese ECOMOG contingent of 110 men arrived in Bissau weeks before the current round of fighting.
Hundreds of refugees stranded on Portuguese ship
Between 200 and 300 people fleeing the fighting in Bissau were stranded on board a Portuguese freighter which ran aground yesterday off the capital, AFP reported. It said a launch from the French warship, Le Siroco, had gone to free the freighter, whose passengers are mainly women and children.
On land, at least 80 people have been reported killed and 300 wounded since Sunday, AFP reported, quoting hospital sources. "The situation is catastrophic in (Bissau's) main hospital, where 300 people cannot be treated for want of medical supplies," a hospital worker told AFP. Most of the casualties occurred on Sunday under the barrage of artillery and automatic weapons.
LIBERIA: Sierra Leone not reason for cancellation of Taylor foreign visit
Liberia has denied reports that a scheduled trip to South Africa by President Charles Taylor was cancelled due to the crisis in Sierra Leone, Star radio reported yesterday. Presidential spokesman Reginald Goodridge said Taylor was too busy with domestic and regional issues to travel. However, a local daily had quoted Goodridge as saying the trip was delayed due to "negative international propaganda against Liberia," Star radio said.
Government denies existence of RUF training camps
Meanwhile, the Liberian government has said there are no training camps in Liberia for Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels from Sierra Leone, Star radio reported. The denial followed an accusation by Sierra Leone Finance Minister Dr James Jonah that there are five training camps for rebels fighting the government in Sierra Leone. In a statement, Liberian Information Minister Joe Mulbah described the allegation as "baseless". Three Liberian parliamentary committees are to review the situation in Sierra Leone, the radio added.
US embassy clarification on alleged payments to local journalists
The US Embassy in Monrovia has stressed that it does not pay money to local journalists after accusations that certain journalists were on the embassy payroll, Star radio said. Presidential Military Adviser, Isaac Musah, recently alleged certain journalists were paid to write negative stories about the government. The embassy issued a statement on Monday saying it selects Liberian journalists for training in the US but "such training does not obligate the beneficiary for favour". The statement said there have been diverse recipients of the training programmes over many years, including the current information minister, Joe Mulbah, Star radio reported.
NIGERIA: Pardon for convicted coup plotters under consideration
A presidential pardon may be "imminent" for former chief of general staff Lieutenant General Oladipo Diya and others who were convicted of plotting a coup last year against the previous head of state, General Sani Abacha, the independent 'Guardian' newspaper said today.
The chief press secretary to the head of state, Mallam Mohammed Haruna, speaking to reporters in Abuja yesterday, said Nigeria's current military ruler, General Abdulslami Abubukar, was looking into a plea for the early release of some of the prisoners, including General Diya, former works and housing minister Major General Abdulkareem Adisa and his communications counterpart, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju, the 'Guardian' wrote. They were among six plotters given the death sentence by a military tribunal, while 15 others received jail terms, the paper added.
Abubukar, who replaced Abacha in June after his sudden death, granted a reduction in the sentences of those convicted, but has to date refused to allow their release.
CHAD: Government denies attacks in north
Chadian Defence Minister Oumar Kadjalami has denied claims by the anti-government Mouvement pour la democratie et la justice au Tchad (MDJT) that MDJT forces had killed 126 government troops in several attacks in the north of the country, AFP reported yesterday. "There has been neither fighting, nor prisoners of war, nor the occupation of towns and villages by Youssouf Togoimi's men," Kadjalami said. His statement was in reaction to MDJT claims, made in Paris, that the movement had surrounded government troops in Zouar. Kadjalami said the only incident in the area occurred on 31 January when an old land mine was detonated by an army vehicle, wounding seven people. Mines planted decades ago in Borkou-Ennedi-Tibesti, in the north, were a constant danger, he said.
SENEGAL: Government effort to protect ozone
Senegal hopes to eliminate imports and use of ozone-producing substances by the year 2001, an official of the country's Department of Environment told IRIN today. She said Senegal had received US $175,000 in 1995 under the Multilateral Fund of the Montreal Protocol on the elimination of ozone, to strengthen the country's Ozone Bureau, charged locally with the elimination of chloroflurocarbons (CFCs) and other substances that damage the atmosphere.
Technicians were being trained on the hazards of CFCs and on recycling techniques of refrigeration parts, she said. The government will also try to eliminate the use of methyl bromide used in the fumigation of peanuts. A bill to eliminate the import and use of CFCs is to be brought before the national assembly.
[ENDS]
Date: Wed, 3 Feb 1999 18:09:25 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 394 for 1999.2.3
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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