UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN Update 455 for 5/4/99

IRIN Update 455 for 5/4/99


U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa

Tel: +225 21 73 54 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@ocha.unon.org

IRIN-WA Update 455 of events in West Africa (Monday 3 May)

LIBERIA: Catholic bishops call for dialogue on national woes

Catholic bishops in Liberia have called for the use of dialogue to solve their nation's problems, independent 'Star radio' in Monrovia reported.

In a statement issued on Thursday, the bishops noted that violence was not the way to solve problems or promote peace and reconciliation, 'Star radio' said. They urged the government to start implementing the recommendations of a national conference held last year.

The clerics condemned all forms of armed conflict and said Liberia should reform its policy towards its neighbours so as to regain the trust and confidence of the international community, 'Star' added.

The bishops' meeting came in the wake of a 21 April guerrilla raid on the northern border town of Voinjama, Lofa County. The attack was repelled by Liberian security forces.

Recent news reports claim that Voinjama was attacked by guerrillas from training camps that ULIMO, a former rebel faction led by Alhaji Kromah, allegedly operates in southeast Guinea.

The Guinean government has denied any involvement in the attack saying Guinea would never serve as a rear base for attacking another OAU member country, according to news reports.

Sierra Leonean refugees complain about local security

Meanwhile in Kumgbor, Lofa County, Sierra Leonean refugees have complained about local security to a visiting District Superintendent, 'Star radio' reported on Friday.

The refugees told the Gbarama District Superintendent, William Seh, that security men were harassing them for identity cards and taking away their food. According to 'Star radio', Seh promised prompt government action to bring the situation "under control" and said he would recommend to the UNHCR that refugees be given identity cards.

There are about 1,000 Sierra Leonean refugees in Kumgbor, 'Star radio' added.

NIGERIA: Rights groups say Muslim activists persecuted

Nigerian human rights groups have accused the outgoing military government of persecuting militants of the Islamic Brotherhood, a group led by Muslim cleric Ibrahim El-Zak Zaky.

Fabian Okoye, the director of publications of Human Rights Monitor - an NGO that has interviewed Zaky extensively - told IRIN on Monday the Brotherhood had been denied freedom to express its views on the government and had had its processions broken up illegally, while scores of Zaky's followers were still being detained.

Human Rights Monitor claims Zaky was freed - last year - only after it exerted considerable pressure on government, which could not be reached for comment.

"Since Zaky was released then the others should be freed," Okoye said. It was a question of collective justice, he added.

University authorities at Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria, have banned Zaky from praying at the Congo Campus mosque, where he had worshipped for the past 25 years, according to Okoye.

Zaky, Okoye said, felt that corruption and "an ungodly leadership" formed the nexus of Nigeria's problem, which only an Islamic government could change.

Advocating this system of government for Nigeria, drawing inspiration from Iran, was a direct challenge to state authority Okoye said, "so, government was treating that as an act of subversion."

Half of Nigeria's estimated 107 million people are Muslims, who live mainly in the north.

Abuja and Malabo to discuss boundary dispute

Officials from Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria are due to meet on Wednesday to resolve a boundary dispute in the oil-rich Gulf of Guinea, Reuters reported, quoting a local newspaper.

The daily, Thisday, said the meeting would take place in the Equatorial Guinean city of Bata. This follows talks recently between Nigeria's military ruler, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, and his Guinean counterpart, President Obiang Nguema.

Nigeria and neighbouring Cameroon are locked in a similar dispute over the Bakassi peninsula, also in the Gulf of Guinea, where their military forces face each other. This dispute is now under arbitration at the International Court of Justice in the Hague

Soyinka criticises detention of journalist

Nobel literary laureate Wole Soyinka has criticised the detention of the chairman of the Lagos Council of the Nigerian Union of Journalists (NUJ), `The Guardian' newspaper of Lagos reported on Monday.

The journalist, Lanre Arogundade, is being held at the Iyaganku Central Police Station, Ibadan, western Nigeria, the newspaper said. He was arrested on 25 April, following a petition by a faction of the union, in connection with allegations that he had something to do with the death of former NUJ treasurer Bolade Fasasi, shot dead by unidentified gunmen in Ibadan.

Soyinka, who visited Arogundade in his cell, said that detaining him without charge for more than 24 hours after his arrest was unacceptable.

"This type of conduct would not be acceptable from the police and would never be acceptable to human rights activists," the paper quoted Soyinka as saying.

CHAD: Troops to be pulled out of the DRC

Chad has decided to withdraw its troops from the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) following a regional accord brokered by Libya, according to news reports.

Reuters quoted Information Minister Moussa Dago as saying details of the withdrawal of the estimated 1,000 troops would be decided with the DRC government.

The troops were sent to the DRC last September to help the government of President Laurent Kabila fight rebels backed by Uganda and Rwanda. The regional accord that has paved the way for their withdrawal was signed last month in the Libyan city of Sirte by Kabila and the presidents of Chad, Uganda and Eritrea.

Under the agreement, Eritrea and Libya agreed to send military observers to Congo to take over from foreign troops involved in the conflict: the DRC army is also backed by troops from Angola, Namibia and Zimbabwe.

GUINEA BISSAU: Head of UN Peace-building office appointed

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has appointed Samuel Nana-Sinkam, a Cameroonian national, as his representative in Guinea Bissau and head of UNOGBIS, the UN Peace-building Support Office in the West African nation.

According to a UN press release, Nana-Sinkam was the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) representative in the Republic of Congo since 1995. Before that, he was the FAO Director-General's representative at the Organisation of African Unity (OAU)and the director of the joint ECA/FAO Division on Agriculture in Addis Ababa from 1987 to 1995.

Nana-Sinkam joined the United Nations in 1967 as an economist with the FAO. He has also held various posts in his country's government and at the International Monetary Fund, including that of IMF executive director for 21 African countries.

Abidjan, 3 May, 1999 19:24 GMT

[ENDS]

Date: Mon, 3 May 1999 19:20:18 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: WEST AFRICA: IRIN Update 455 for 3 May [19990504]

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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