| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
Tel: +225 21 73 54 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@ocha.unon.org
IRIN-WA Update 420 of Events in West Africa (Thursday 11 March)
WEST AFRICA: First stage in British-French policy coordination
The British and French foreign ministers, Robin Cook and Hubert Vedrine, arrived in Abidjan today (Thursday) on their first joint visit to West Africa - aimed at ending centuries of rivalry on the continent.
They flew in from Accra where they held talks yesterday (Wednesday) with Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings. In Abidjan, they met their ambassadors to discuss stronger British-French cooperation in Africa.
"Britain and France have many common interests and responsibilities in Africa and it is sensible that we should pool our assets and our experiences and coordinate our approach," Cook said before the trip.
This outlook stems from an Anglo-French summit in St Malo in December 1998, where leaders committed their governments to harmonising policies on Africa and cooperating on the ground, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said today.
Under the Joint Declaration of Cooperation in Africa, which emerged from that summit, both countries plan to promote human rights and good governance, to tackle Africa's debt and maintain development aid. To achieve these aims, London and Paris have set out to share information on Africa between capitals and local embassies "in particular on countries where one or other partner is not represented".
Era of "zones of influence" over, Vedrine says
In an interview with the French daily 'La Croix', published today, Vedrine said the joint visit with Cook symbolised the "modernisation" of France's Africa policy.
It demonstrated French willingness to coordinate activities with European partners - for example joint action with Portugal in Guinea Bissau and with Germany in the Sahel countries. There were no longer any "exclusive zones of influence", Vedrine said.
Africans should not fear that France and Britain were once again trying to "divide up" the continent between them. "It's now a question of working together throughout the whole of Africa," he said.
CHAD: Government admits presence of new rebel group
A new Chadian rebel group claimed today to have captured two garrisons in northern Chad. AFP quoted Ahmed Kailan, the Paris-based spokesman of the rebel Mouvement pour la dÈmocratie et la justice au Tchad (MDJT) as saying that MDJT fighters took Zoumri and Omou, located in the semi-desert Tibetsi region, on 8 and 9 March.
Violent clashes had occurred last week in the Tibetsi between the MDJT and troops loyal to Chadian President Idriss Deby, AFP and the Libreville-based 'Africa No. 1' radio station reported. Kailan said the two sides had fought 15 times since the MDJT was formed in October last in the Tibetsi.
The rebel group's leader, Youssouf Togoimi, was minister of defence and then of home affairs between 1995 and 1997, but after being placed under house arrest in Ndjamena, he fled to his home area in the Tibetsi mountains and started his rebellion with about 100 men, Kailan explained.
Chad's government on Tuesday admitted for the first time that the MDJT existed, but said it posed no threat. "How can a small group of 40 people holed up in the Tibetsi without any way to get out constitute a threat to our country and the common will of the Chadians to live in peace?" AFP reported Deby as saying in a speech carried yesterday (Wednesday)on Chadian radio.
According to AFP, the MDJT has been welcomed by two other rebel groups opposed to Deby's government: the Mouvement pour la democratie et le developpement (MDD), based around Lake Chad in the southwest, and the Front national du Tchad renove (FNTR)in the eastern region of Ouaddai.
SIERRA LEONE: Kabbah optimistic after African visits
President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah returned home yesterday after a three-day vsit to Togo, Nigeria and Ghana, Sierra Leone radio reported. In all three countries, he discussed the peace process underway in his nation and pledged "never to abandon Sierra Leone to the hands of evil forces".
Nigerian president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo was quoted as saying that Abuja could not keep its troops indefinitely in Sierra Leone, but that there would not be an immediate withdrawal. Nigeria has suggested it may pull its 10,000 troops out of the ECOMOG intervention force by 29 May, when civilian rule is ushered in.
Addressing a news conference in Accra yesterday, Kabbah said ongoing contacts with jailed Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader Foday Sankoh confirmed that the country was ready for a peace dialogue. According to Ghanaian radio, Kabbah said there was "some measure of trust" between him and Sankoh "which needs to be nurtured". Other news reports quoted Kabbah as saying he might be willing to release Sankoh. "If I have to use my clemency to release Sankoh in order to bring a lasting solution to my country, I will do that," he said.
Bockarie says Sankoh must meet rebels on the ground
RUF rebel commander Sam Bockarie meanwhile called for a face-to-face meeting "in the jungle" with Sankoh. In an interview with 'Radio France Internationale', broadcast yesterday, he dismissed Sankoh's call earlier this week for the RUF to observe a ceasefire. "We need to meet Foday Sankoh on neutral ground, to talk with him, to see him physically and to make sure he is in good health," Bockarie said. "He needs to be given the possibility to see his troops in the jungle where he left them ... if President Kabbah wants peace, this is the only solution." Kabbah has agreed to let Sankoh meet his commanders, but at a location outside the country. The Togolese capital, Lome, has been mooted as a venue.
Sierra Leoneans still fleeing to Guinea
UNHCR said Sierra Leoneans were continuing to cross the border into Guinea around the Gueckedou area. A final count is to be made by the end of March, but since 22 December, 6,588 new arrivals had been registered. The refugee agency said it was working on transferring 50,000 vulnerable refugees away from camps situated near the Sierra Leone border and subject to rebel attacks. The move was due to be completed by the onset of the rainy season in May.
LIBERIA: UNHCR repatriating hundreds of Liberians
Some 720 more Liberian refugees are being repatriated by boat from Freetown in an ongoing operation conducted by UNHCR, the agency told IRIN today.
UNHCR Regional Information Officer Khassim Diagne said the first batch of 200 arrived yesterday aboard the M.V. Overbeck, a ship chartered from Guinea. "There will be four more such trips over the next three to four weeks," he said.
The returnees, who asked to be repatriated, were among the 8,000 Liberians in Sierra Leone when Revolutionary United Front/Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (RUF/AFRC) rebels attacked the capital on 6 January. They were given the usual two months' WFP food ration and non-food items such as blankets, cooking utensils, mats and plastic sheets.
Around 100,000 people have been taken back to Liberia by the UNHCR since the UN agency began a general repatriation of Liberians from Cote d'Ivoire and Guinea early in 1998. Another 160,000 have gone back on their own.
GUINEA: Jailed politician said to be dangerously ill
Jailed Guinean opposition leader Alpha Conde, who has been on hunger strike for 10 days, is dangerously ill, his political party said today, according to AFP.
Conde's Rassemblement du peuple de Guinee (RPG) party said in a statement that its leader's life was "in danger".
Conde started the hunger strike "to protest the non-respect of his rights", the RPG said. His lawyers - from Guinea, France and Senegal - say he is being held in isolation. Last month they said they would suspend their defence of their client because the authorities had make the task impossible.
Conde, a parliamentarian, ran for president in last December's elections. He was arrested and accused of state security offences and of recruiting mercenaries to overthrow the current government.
AFRICA: Focusing on the needs of war-affected children
Some 50 persons from UN agencies, other international organisations, NGOs, governments and media are due to meet in Abidjan from 12 to 15 April for a Technical Workshop on Actions in favour of Children Affected by Armed Conflict in West and Central Africa.
The workshop, organised by the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF), will bring together professionals who have expertise in emergency situations and armed conflict, according to a UNICEF press release.
Its aim is to help professionals working in this field, and UNICEF field staff in particular, "to strengthen their capacity to respond to the needs and problems of children affected by armed conflicts", the release said.
Abidjan, 11 March 1999, 17:45 gmt
[ENDS]
Date: Thu, 11 Mar 1999 17:57:25 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: WEST AFRICA: IRIN Update 420 for 11 March [19990312]
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
| Previous Menu | Home Page | What's New | Search | Country Specific |