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IRIN-WA Update 416 of Events in West Africa (Friday 5 March)
SIERRA LEONE: Sankoh meets religious leaders
Jailed rebel leader Foday Sankoh has had talks with the Inter-religious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL) at a secret location in the capital Freetown, news reports said today (Friday). The IRCSL's secretary-general, Reverend Alimamy Koroma, told journalists discussions centred on how to achieve sustainable peace. He said Sankoh was "very jovial and relaxed" and described the talks as "encouraging". He added that Sankoh had also made radio contact with some of his Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in the bush.
President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah is due in Togo on Monday for talks with his Togolese counterpart Gnassingbe Eyadema, AFP reported. The capital Lome has been proposed as a venue for Sankoh to meet his rebel commanders, ahead of a dialogue with the government.
NIGERIA: US presidential envoy due Sunday
The US presidential envoy for Africa, Jesse Jackson, is due in Nigeria tomorrow (Saturday) for a six-day tour, news reports said. Jackson, President Bill Clinton's special representative for democracy and human rights in Africa, "will stress the importance of reconciliation, national unity and completion of the transition to democratic civilian rule", State Department deputy spokesman James Foley said. Jackson plans to meet Nigerian military leader General Abdulsalami Abubakar, President-elect Olusegun Obasanjo and opposition leader Olu Falae, Reuters said. Jackson is also due to meet representatives for local government and civil society groups in the troubled Niger Delta.
GUINEA BISSAU: Disarmament due to start
The disarmament of rival military forces in Guinea Bissau is due to begin today, the Portuguese news agency Lusa reported. Quoting Guinea Bissau Defence Minister Francisco Benante, it said the operation due to begin in Bissaque, scene of the recent heaviest fighting, would last about 45 days. Benante, who met senior officers from both sides on Wednesday to discuss plans for disarmament, said loyalist forces and the rebel Military Junta had agreed to integrate their forces and maintain the military ranks held before the rebellion of 7 June 1998. Guinean and Senegalese forces backing the government will complete their withdrawal by the extended deadline of 16 March, Benante said. They are being replaced by the West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, under a peace treaty signed in November 1998 between Guinea Bissau President Joao Bernardo Vieira and Junta leader, Brigadier General Ansumane Mane.
Portuguese aid official due in
Portugal's senior aid official, Luis Amado, is scheduled to visit Guinea Bissau on Monday to discuss reconstruction of the country after the eight-month military uprising, Lusa said.
Amado, the assistant secretary of state for foreign affairs and cooperation, is then expected in Togo on Tuesday. Togo, which chairs the 16-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), helped mediate the end of the conflict in Guinea Bissau. Togo contributes troops to and leads the ECOMOG force in the former Portuguese colony.
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Legislative elections Sunday
Some 195,096 voters in the former Spanish colony of Equatorial Guinea go to the polls on Sunday in their second legislative elections, under the threat of a boycott by opposition political parties, AFP reported.
The ruling Partido Democratico de Guinea Ecuatorial (PDGE) commands 68 of the 80-seat legislature, the Camara de Representantes del Pueblo. Members serve a five-year term and are elected by universal suffrage.
One of the country's leading legal opposition parties, the Convergencia para la Democracia Social (CPDS), threatened in February to boycott the polls because many of its members were imprisoned. Other parties said they had been prevented from holding pre-campaign activities.
BENIN: Child traffickers arrested
Police in Djougou, in Benin's northern Atacora District, have rescued 14 children aged between 10 and 14 from child traffickers, PANA reported today. The children, from Bassila about 400 km north of Cotonou, were in a Nigerian registered vehicle and under the supervision of four Benin adult nationals when they were stopped by police, PANA said. The children told police they were promised video tapes, cassette recorders and bicycles. The traffickers are being held in custody in Djougou, 550 km northwest of Cotonou.
Abijdan, 5 March 1999, 17:00 gmt
[ENDS]
Date: Mon, 08 Mar 1999 14:47:22 To: irin-wa-updates@ocha.unon.org Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 416 for 1999.3.5 [19990309]
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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