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IRIN-WA Update 429 of events in West Africa (Wednesday 24 March)
SIERRA LEONE: United States calls for peace
The United States called on the warring parties in Sierra Leone to begin peace talks, according to a report by AFP yesterday (Tuesday).
Washington is "urging all players to come to the negotiating table to end the mayhem," Susan Rice, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, told an international relations committee hearing in Washington. She said that it was critical to organise a meeting with RUF leader Foday Sankoh and senior rebel commanders to "clarify the RUF's agenda and lines of authority", AFP reported. She added that the humanitarian situation was "desperate".
Meanwhile, the BBC reported British Prime Minister Tony Blair as saying that the UK would continue to support the elected government in Freetown and urging Nigeria not to withdraw its troops until the country was secure. Blair made the statement yesterday during a meeting in London with Nigeria's president-elect, Olusegun Obasanjo.
Nigeria provides the majority of troops to the ECOMOG forces in Sierra Leone.
NIGERIA: Nigeria releases eight soldiers over 1990 coup
Nigeria's Provisional Ruling Council - its military government - yesterday released eight soldiers jailed in connection with a 1990 coup plot, news reports said. Major General Felix Mujakperuo, a senior military official, told reporters in Abuja that the men, all non-commissioned officers, were being granted clemency, not pardons.
Two of the detainees had been jailed without trial while the rest had been sentenced to death, `The Guardian' newspaper in Lagos reported today.
"It was gathered that the sentences were confirmed, commuted to jail terms and then granted amnesty based on the length of years they had spent in jail," the newspaper reported.
On 4 March, the PRC freed 45 people convicted of plotting to topple the late military leader, General Sani Abacha, in 1995 and 1997.
Court grants Falae's lawyer's access to elections papers
Lawyers for unsuccessful presidential candidate Olu Falae yesterday secured permission from the Appeal Court in Abuja to inspect material used in February's elections, news reports said.
Justice George Oguntade, who delivered the ruling, said it was "just and equitable" that Olu Falae, who is contesting the election result, be given access to five sets of poll documents, `The Guardian` of Lagos reported today.
Falae's lawyer, Godwin Ajayi, sought the court's ruling at the beginning of the hearing on Monday to search the documents for evidence of electoral irregularities, Reuters reported.
WESTERN SAHARA: UN Secretary-General recommends extended MINURSO mandate
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended a one-month extension of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to 30 April.
MINURSO's mandate includes monitoring a ceasefire and identifying and registering qualified voters for a referendum that will decide whether Western Sahara should gain full independence or become part of Morocco.
In his latest report on the former Spanish colony, the Secretary-General said Morocco had indicated its acceptance, in principle, of a UN-proposed package designed to accelerate the referendum process. This was on the understanding that certain amendments would be incorporated in protocols related to voter identification and appeals, and that the UN Mission would provide the parties with operational directives and a revised timetable.
Morocco asked that the modalities for organizing the identification and appeals be consistent with the objective of holding the referendum by March 2000. According to the report, the UN Mission expects to provide the parties with revised texts at the end of March.
The UN Secretary-General has designated Robin Kinloch,
chairman of the Identification Commission, as Acting
Special Representative in Western Sahara. The former
head of the UN Mission, Charles F. Dunbar, announced
that he would resign when his contract expired at the
end of March.
Abidjan, 24 March 1999, 19:58 GMT
[ENDS]
Date: Wed, 24 Mar 1999 20:00:40 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: WEST AFRICA: IRIN Update 429 for 24 March [19990325]
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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