UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN Update 482 for 9 June [19990610]

IRIN Update 482 for 9 June [19990610]


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 482 of events in West Africa (Wednesday 9 June)

SIERRA LEONE: UN to expand role

United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended in his latest report to the Security Council on Tuesday a six-month extension of the UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL).

"The recent political developments, including the signing of a ceasefire agreement and the start of the dialogue, have significant implications for the work of UNOMSIL," Annan said.

He recommended the mandate be extended until 13 December and expressed hope that by that date he would be able to suggest an expanded mandate to implement a peace agreement.

Annan welcomes peace talks, deplores atrocities

He welcomed progress at the talks between the government and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) saying: "It is the first time in three years that a political settlement might be within reach to break the cycle of violence that has held the country in its grip since 1991."

However, Annan described killings, mutilations and other human rights abuses the rebels committed against civilians as well as the widespread destruction of property as "deeply deplorable". He called on the RUF "to prove its sincere commitment to peace and ensure the compliance of all its fighters with international human rights standards and humanitarian law, including the release of all abductees".

He noted the intention of the RUF leadership to investigate alleged abuses committed by its troops and to invite international partners to take part in this process and called upon the RUF leaders "to demonstrate without delay their will and capacity to do so".

He commended the initiative of the ECOMOG force commander in establishing a Civil-Military Relations Committee to investigate allegations of human rights violations by pro-government forces.

He described as an important step, Sierra Leone President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's proposal, on 27 April, to establish a national Human Rights Commission and a truth and reconciliation mechanism as part of a peace agreement.

The forthcoming trip by the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to examine the situation on the ground and obtain "tangible commitments regarding the prevention of abuses and accountability of perpetrators" was a welcome development, Annan said.

Critical need to deliver humanitarian aid

The Secretary-General stressed the need to establish mechanisms to ensure "unhindered humanitarian access to all parts of the country" as well as the need to promote effective coordination and cooperation between humanitarian agencies, the government and the RUF. He urged the international community to "continue its support for dialogue with the aim of achieving unhindered access, and once granted, for their continued support of humanitarian assistance".

President of Togo briefed on peace talks

Meanwhile the ECOWAS chairman, President Gnassingbe Eyadema of Togo, was briefed on Tuesday on the peace talks between the two sides, according to a UNOMSIL press release.

The meeting was attended by Togolese Foreign Minister Joseph Koffigoh and members of the Facilitation Committee of the dialogue for peace. This committee includes the UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General, Francis Okelo, the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) representative, Adwoa Coleman and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) secretariat representative, Roger Laloupo.

Okelo, speaking on behalf of the group, said that the overall security and military situation was "generally stable and that the 18 May Ceasefire Agreement was holding, despite minor violations reported by the two parties". He added that throughout the discussions in the three committees dealing respectively with political, military and humanitarian affairs, both parties "constantly renewed their commitment to peace".

GUINEA BISSAU: Gambia denies holding Vieira

Gambia denied on Wednesday news reports that it was holding former Guinea Bissau president Joao Bernardo Vieira against his will.

"I expect Mr Vieira to leave on an aircraft for Portugal either tomorrow or the day after tomorrow," Gambian Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs Sedat Jobe told IRIN.

The Portuguese news agency, Lusa, reported on Tuesday that a relative of Vieira had told it Vieira was "very upset" at not having been allowed to travel on to Portugal.

Jobe dismissed reports of Vieira's detention in The Gambia as "nonsense". The precise timing of Vieira's departure, Jobe added, depended on how soon Portugal could send a plane. "The ball is in their camp," he said.

Portugal's foreign ministry, he said, had informed his office that Lisbon had granted Vieira asylum. Jobe said that after arriving in Portugal arrangements would probably be made for Vieira to go to a French military hospital in Paris, where he had previously received care.

Fadul expects Vieira to return

Meanwhile, Guinea Bissau Prime Minister Francisco Fadul told Lusa on Tuesday that the agreement allowing Vieira to leave Guinea Bissau covered temporary residence abroad for medical treatment but not political exile.

Permission to leave was reportedly granted after Vieira renounced the presidency and promised to return to Guinea Bissau to stand trial, the agency said.

"Were Nino (Vieira) not to be tried, the seventh June uprising would lose all meaning, and impunity would reign in Guinea Bissau," interim President Becai Sanha, quoted by `Diario de Noticias', said.

He was speaking on Tuesday at the official celebration of the first anniversary of the military uprising that ended in Vieira's ouster. Sanha also announced the imminent release of 307 political prisoners.

NIGERIA: Obasanjo meets warring groups

President Olusegun Obasanjo began meetings on Wednesday in Abuja with warring groups of the oil-rich southeastern town of Warri in an effort to end days of intercommunal violence that has left at least 200 dead, AFP reported.

The meeting was attended by representatives of Ijaw, Itsekiri and Urhobo communities who have been battling over the location of a local government office. The site of this office "promises jobs, amenities and money", AFP said.

Obasanjo's talks with the community leaders came ahead of his planned visit to Warri which has now been called off, the BBC reported. The two-day meeting Obasanjo was due to attend in Warri on Thursday, on the problems of the Niger Delta, had been postponed indefinitely because of the fighting, Reuters said quoting organisers

Fresh communal violence

In another development, seven people were feared dead in communal violence between residents of Ikot Ebiti village in Cross River State and the people of Amaekere, in Akwa Ibom State.

Fighting was sparked by a boundary demarcation and adjustment report submitted on 27 April to the National Boundary Commission "which was said to favour the Ikot Ebiti village", the `Post Express' reported on Wednesday.

Homes were burnt, displacing 800 Ikot Ebiti villagers and forcing some to take refuge in nearby villages, a witness said in the southeastern city of Calabar.

Senate vows to repeal obnoxious laws

Senate President Evan Enwerem pledged on Tuesday to repeal all laws and decrees that contradict democratic norms, `The Guardian' of Lagos reported on Wednesday.

This follows a list of 56 decrees the Constitutional Rights Project, an NGO, submitted to the National Assembly and asked the law making body to abrogate. Enwerem told reporters in Lagos that the repeal of these decrees and laws was necessary "as they have been giving the new civilian administration and the people serious concern", the newspaper said.

LIBERIA: Date for arms destruction set

Liberian President Charles Taylor has announced that arms collected from former warring factions will be destroyed on 26 July, independent Star radio reported on Tuesday. It said Taylor expected Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo, as well as representatives from the ECOWAS, UN and the OAU to witness the destruction.

GHANA: Some 70 drown in lake

About 70 people are feared drowned after their overloaded boat sank in Lake Volta on Friday, news reports said. Ghana's `Daily Graphic' reported the boat, carrying 90 passengers from Kete-Krachi to Tapa-Abotouse, sank two nautical miles from its destination, some 500 km from the nation's capital, Accra. AFP reported that some 25 survivors told police the boat was overloaded with agricultural produce and livestock when it ran against high winds. Two similar accidents occurred in the lake in 1994 and 1995, AFP said.

GHANA: Teme-Akosombo road tarred

The 78-km Tema to Akosombo road linking the harbour city to the inland port at Akosombo has been commissioned, Ghana's Joy FM radio reported on Tuesday. The road was upgraded from a bitumen to an asphalt surface with a 23.8-billion-deutsche mark loan from Germany and Ghana government funding. First built in 1963, the road serves landlocked Burkina Faso, Mali and Niger.

Abidjan, 9 June 1999, 18:30 GMT

[ENDS]

[IRIN-WA: Tel: +225 217366 Fax: +225 216335 e-mail: irin-wa@ocha.unon.org ]

Item: irin-english-997

[This item is delivered in the "irin-english" service of the UN's IRIN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations. For further information or free subscriptions, or to change your keywords, contact e-mail: irin@ocha.unon.org or fax: +254 2 622129 or Web: http://www.reliefweb.int/IRIN . If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this item, please retain this credit and disclaimer.]

Copyright (c) UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs 1999

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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