UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN-WA Daily Media Update 43-97, 9/9/97

IRIN-WA Daily Media Update 43-97, 9/9/97


U N I T E D N A T I O N S

Department of Humanitarian Affairs

Integrated Regional Information Network

for West Africa

Tel: +225 21-63-35

Fax: +225 21-63-35

e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci

IRIN-WA Daily Media Update 43-97 of Events in West Africa, 9 September 1997

[As a supplement to its weekly roundups of main events in West Africa, IRIN-WA will produce a daily synopsis of international media reports on the region. IRIN issues these reports for the benefit of the humanitarian community but accepts no responsibility as to the accuracy of the original source.]

SIERRA LEONE: Embargo hurts the vulnerable

The urban poor will be the hardest hit by the enforcement of the blockade on Sierra Leone by West African states. Humanitarian sources warned that the coping mechanisms of vulnerable groups within the capital, Freetown, are already over-stretched. However the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) claims there are enough supplies of the main staple, rice, to last a year. "The problem is not so much food availability but the purchasing power of the population - they have less and less money to buy," one source said. The rising value of the dollar against the leone - from around 1,000 six-weeks-ago to 1,600 currently - has also pushed up prices.

Displaced people continue to enter Freetown. Most stay with family and friends further straining household budgets. There are however two displaced camps, holding a total of 10,000 people who are being supplied by the humanitarian community. The newest camp at Kossoh town on the road leading out of Freetown was established after the AFRC's 25 May coup. Its 2,500-3,000 residents chose to settle next to a base of West African peacekeeping troops (ECOMOG) near the Jui checkpoint where they reportedly "feel safer".

Meanwhile, the procedure to exempt humanitarian supplies from the embargo by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) has reportedly caused some confusion among the humanitarian community in Sierra Leone. There is also concern over the length of time that the processing of applications could take. "If it takes several months, then there will be problems," one source said. ECOMOG commander, General Victor Malu, said today (Tuesday) all humanitarian shipments must be inspected by ECOMOG in either Liberia or Guinea. "If they are coming in by air, we will direct them to where they are to be cleared," he told IRIN. On the length of time the process could take, he said: "that is immaterial. They have a choice to be cleared or not. Either they are cleared, or they do not come in at all." According to Malu, he is yet to receive any exemption applications. Following the weekend attacks by Nigerian warplanes against embargo-breaking ships in Freetown port, the ECOMOG commander said that air strikes would continue on any vessels attempting to enter the harbour. He said the aim was to sink rather than disable the ships. Malu said the harbour had been partially blocked by a vessel bombed on Saturday. "By the time we get a second one, we will be satisfied," he added. Nigerian French-built ground-attack Alpha jets are operating from Monrovia, Conakry and the Sierra Leonean international airport at Lungi to enforce the ECOWAS air/sea/land blockade. Source: IRIN.

SIERRA LEONE: AFRC claims to have killed ULIMO fighters

AFRC forces killed 17 militia fighters in the eastern Sierra Leonean border town of Zimmi at the weekend, an AFRC minister claimed today. The dead were described as Kamajor hunters and also members of the supposedly defunct Mandingo wing of the Liberian United Liberation Movement (ULIMO-K). AFRC Secretary of State for the East, Captain Eddie Kanneh, alleged identity documents linked five of the dead to ULIMO-K. He said the AFRC would not allow the region to be used "as a springboard to create instability to the new government of Liberia." Zimmi, around 16 kms from one of the few road bridges linking Sierra Leone and Liberia, has been insecure for more than a month. Kanneh claimed that Nigerian units of ECOMOG, based across the border, are training and arming the Kamajor, who are fighting to reinstall ousted President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. Source: AFP.

LIBERIA: Kromah "flees" to Guinea, radio reports

Kiss FM radio last night claimed that All Liberian Coalition Party leader, Alhaji Kromah, fled Liberia for Guinea last week crossing the border at Ganta "disguised as a woman". The allegation was also reported by the 'Patriot' newspaper, which along with Kiss FM supports the National Patriotic Party of Charles Taylor. According to the independent Star radio, an official at Kromah's party headquarters refused to confirm or deny the report. There has been a recent rise in tension between former warlords Taylor and Kromah. Late last month, Taylor accused Kromah's ULIMO-K faction - which under the Liberian peace process should have disbanded - of rearming in Sierra Leone with the aim of destabilising Liberia. Kromah denied the charge. ULIMO-K was originally formed in Sierra Leone. Source: Star radio & IRIN.

LIBERIA: Taylor claims arrival of 200,000 Sierra Leonean refugees

President Charles Taylor claimed Monday that 200,000 refugees fleeing violence in Sierra Leone have arrived in Liberian border towns, Reuters reported. He said Liberia "must act now" to strengthen border security and avert a spill over of Sierra Leone's political crisis, Taylor said. However, according to a humanitarian source, the total number of Sierra Leonean refugees is "probably under 20,000 although it continues to rise". A DHA-Liberia assessment suggests there are around 3,000 refugees in Cape Mount County and a further 10,000 in the Vahun regions bordering eastern Sierra Leone. Source: Reuters & IRIN.

Meanwhile, Taylor held his first cabinet meeting on Monday since his inauguration on 2 August. The crisis in neighbouring Sierra Leone, civil service salary arrears (many public workers have not been paid since January) and the centralisation of government revenue collection topped the agenda, according to state-run ELBC radio. Denmark has earmarked seven million dollars in aid for Liberia, Danish Minister of Development Cooperation, Poul Nielson, said on Monday. Source: AFP, Reuters, humanitarian sources.

LIBERIA: Strikers shot

At least six people were shot when government security forces - backed by ECOMOG troops - put down a strike by more than 7,000 rubber workers at Liberia's Japanese-owned Firestone rubber plantation, Reuters reported Tuesday. The workers, who downed tools on Sunday, are demanding improved benefits and the reinstatement of some 8,000 former employees. Deputy Labour Minister, Emmanuel Lomax, announced a government committee to investigate the strike. Source: Reuters.

LIBERIA: Beijing warns over two-China policy

China today sent a "veiled warning" to Liberia as it rejected Monrovia's claim to recognise both Beijing and Taipei, AFP reported. The double recognition declared by Liberia on Saturday "will never be accepted by the government or by the Chinese people," a Beijing foreign ministry spokesman said. He said that China would take "the necessary measures" if the Liberian government insisted on a two-China policy. Source: AFP.

SENEGAL: Casamance crisis worsens

Suspected separatist rebels killed nine civilians and wounded 17 in an attack on a youth hostel in Senegal's troubled southern province of Casamance on Monday night. The raid, believed to have been by members of the Mouvement des Forces Democratique de Casamance (MFDC), follows an attack on Sunday on two villages in the region in which five people were killed and food and money stolen. There has been an upsurge in violence in the province since 25 soldiers were killed in clashes with the MFDC last month. The trouble has also spread into the north of the region, an area not usually associated with unrest since the main body of the MFDC signed a ceasefire with the government in 1991. The south is viewed as the traditional base of MFDC hardliners led by Salif Sadio. In the expanding violence, the Senegalese army has launched a major sweep against the rebels around the regional capital of Ziguinchor. According to AFP, some 100 soldiers, civilians and rebels have been killed in fighting over the past two months. Source: AFP, Reuters & IRIN.

NIGERIA: Government denies Abacha sick

Nigerian government officials on Monday denied a report by a popular magazine 'Tell' that head of state General Sani Abacha "is very sick" with cirrhosis of the liver. "We deny that this story is correct. I do not know where they got their information from," Reuters quoted an official at the presidency as saying. 'Tell', in its Monday edition, also quoted sources from the presidency claiming that Abacha has suffered from liver problems for around 10 years. According to AFP, "Abacha's ill-health was clearly visible" to those attending last month's ECOWAS summit in the capital, Abuja. Source: Reuters & AFP.

Reporters Sans Frontieres Tuesday reported that Nigerian journalist, Akpandem James, a correspondent for the private 'Punch' newspaper, was arrested on 3 September by the Rivers State Security Task Force. The rights group says he is being held in an unknown location. Source: RSF.

NIGER: Disarmament timetable agreed

Representatives of the Niger government and former Tuareg rebels met last week to agree to a disarmament process that should be completed by 30 September. Regroupment of the former fighters under the terms of a 1995 peace agreement was completed in July. Disarmament however got off to a poor start as the rebels, complaining over the slow pace of rehabilitation, were reticent to hand in their weapons. Some 500 ex-rebels are to be trained in trade skills by the American NGO Africare. A further 250 will be recruited into the army and gendarmerie. Source: AFP.

Abidjan, 9 September 1997

[ENDS]

[Via the UN Department of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa (IRIN-WA) Reports mailing list. The material contained in this communication may not necessarily reflect the views of the UN or its agencies. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts from this report should be attributed to the original sources where appropriate. For further information: e-mail irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci, Tel: +225 217367 Fax: +225 216335.]

Date: Wed, 10 Sep 1997 10:31:40 +0300 (GMT+0300) From: UN DHA IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci> Subject: IRIN-WA Daily Media Update 43-97, 9 September 1997 97.9.9 Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.91.970910102412.23536A-100000@dha.unon.org>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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