UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER
IRIN-WA Update 574 [19991019]

IRIN-WA Update 574 [19991019]


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

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Update 574 for West Africa (Monday 18 October 1999)

CONTENTS:

SIERRA LEONE: RUF, AFRC clash; aid workers incommunicado SIERRA LEONE: Rebel commander pledges to disarm WEST AFRICA: WFP short of food for key operations LIBERIA: Government invites donors for assessment mission LIBERIA: US welcomes pledge to fight corruption LIBERIA: NDI closes its operations CAMEROON: Article 19 accuses government of systematic abuses MALI: Many reported killed in ethnic clashes

SIERRA LEONE: RUF, AFRC clash; aid workers incommunicado

Former rebels of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) clashed in the northern town of Makeni on Friday, news organisations reported.

Sierra Leone Web said the fighting started after the arrival in Makeni of between 300 and 500 armed RUF troops from Kailahun district and that it died down over the weekend. Sources in Freetown told IRIN on Monday they were unable to confirm this information due to difficulties in communicating with Makeni.

"We know that there was heavy shooting in Makeni on Friday," a source at a humanitarian organisation with operations in Makeni told IRIN. "There are all sorts of rumours in Freetown but that is all we know."

Lieutenant Colonel Chris Olukolade, ECOMOG's spokesman, told IRIN he had heard "reports from credible sources" that there had been fighting in Makeni. However, he added:"We are unable to confirm this independently as ECOMOG does not have any troops in the area."

"We are concerned for the welfare of our staff in Makeni," Jacqui Ryan, MSF-Holland's head of mission for Sierra Leone told IRIN. "Normally we have radio contact with our staff in Makeni several times a day but we have been unable to get through since Friday.."

She added that other humanitarian agencies with operations in Makeni were having similar communication difficulties.

According to the Missionary News Agency (MISNA), a group including Bishop Giorgio Biguzzi of the Makeni diocese went missing at the weekend.

"We were first informed that the prelate was captured together with another two priests and a group of humanitarian operators in an area not far from Makeni," MISNA quotes a Roman Catholic priest, Father Antonio Guiotto, as saying.

On Monday afternoon "we were told by various sources that the group was rescued by an armed formation respectful of the Lome Accords", added Guiotto, who is the regional superior of the Xaverian missionaries in Sierra Leone. "For the moment we are not able to give further information and we hope the episode concludes for the best."

A reliable source in Freetown told IRIN: "We know that Bishop Biguzzi's car was taken over the weekend." A source from the Catholic relief agency, Caritas, told IRIN they had been trying in vain to contact Biguzzi in Makeni for the entire day.

SIERRA LEONE: RUF commander pledges to disarm

Sam Bockarie, the RUF's main "field commander", said on Friday that he was ready to disarm and fight through the ballot box in general elections next year.

"We will not use weapons any more," the BBC quotes Bockarie, who is based in the eastern district of Kailahun, as saying.

The pledge to disarm was made in response to an appeal by RUF leader Foday Sankoh for all his supporters to put down their weapons. Sankoh made the call in the town of Buedu in RUF-controlled Kailahun at a meeting held, ECOMOG spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Chris Olukalade told IRIN, in the presence of UNOMSIL and ECOMOG personnel.

AFRC leader Johnny Paul Koroma did not attend the meeting, Olukolade said.

Sankoh left Freetown for Buedu on Friday in a helicopter provided by UNOMSIL and returned on Sunday.

WEST AFRICA: WFP short of food for key operations

The World Food Programme (WFP) says it has severely cut back its emergency and post-war reconstruction assistance in Sierra Leone, Liberia and Guinea because of lack of funding.

Donors have provided less than 20 percent of the US $106 million needed to feed 1.8 million refugees and internally displaced people in the three countries, WFP said in a news release issued in Abidjan on Saturday.

With no new contributions since July 1999, WFP has been unable to purchase sufficient food for its operations. This has also created planning difficulties for other humanitarian agencies, WFP said.

In Sierra Leone, aid agencies are just beginning to go to parts of the country which have been inaccessible for months or years due to insecurity. People in some of these areas have been found living in the bush with very high levels of malnutrition and sickness, gathering wild food to eat, according to WFP.

"Lack of resources has made it virtually impossible to provide sufficient assistance to these people," Paul Ares, WFP manager for the West Africa Coastal Region, said. "As access improves in the coming weeks, this problem will become even more acute."

Further disruptions to the food-aid supply may seriously disrupt the Sierra Leone peace process, according to WFP. With commercial imports and local production unusually low as a result of insecurity earlier in the year, food aid is required to fill a major gap.

An increasing number of refugees in Guinea and Liberia will be dependent this year on relief food, according to WFP. Insecurity in August and September in some border areas of both countries has meant that many refugees are being relocated to places that are safer but where they have no land for farming.

The repatriation of refugees from Guinea to parts of Liberia has also been delayed because of a shortage of food aid, according to WFP.

LIBERIA: Government invites donors for assessment mission

The Liberian government has invited international financial experts to the country next month for a multi-donor assessment, Star radio reported. The purpose of the mission will be to review Liberia's financial status with a view to assisting with reconstruction programmes. Former finance minister John Bestman reportedly said the visit was also to convince donors of the government's inability to service its debts.

LIBERIA: US welcomes pledge to fight corruption

The United States has welcomed a decision by Liberia's Ministry of Justice to investigate allegations of corruption in government.

The Ministry launched the campaign last Monday when the Supreme Court opened for a new session.

"The United States government supports the strong effort to control corruption," Walter Greenfield, deputy chief of mission of the US Embassy in Liberia told IRIN on Monday. He was reiterating sentiments reportedly made last week by US Ambassador Bismarck Myrick at a meeting with the National Investment Commission (NIC).

LIBERIA: NDI closes its operations

The National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), an American-based NGO, announced on Friday that it would be closing its programmes after two years of service to Liberia, Star radio reported.

NDI has run civic education forums in three counties, supported local NGOs and helped to facilitate Liberia's transition from war to democracy in 1997, the Liberian radio station said.

CAMEROON: Article 19 accuses government of systematic abuses

An international human rights watchdog on Monday accused Cameroon's government of systematically perpetrating rights violations ranging from illegitimate detention to torture and deaths in custody.

In a report,'Hollow Promises, Freedom of Expression in Cameroon since 1995' the International Centre Against Censorship, Article 19, also accused the Commonwealth, which admitted Cameroon in 1995, of turning a blind eye to official abuse of power by one of its members.

"We call for an immediate end to the appalling abuse of power by the authorities in Cameroon," Andrew Puddephatt, executive director of Article 19, said. "Our new report contains a catalogue of just some of the abuses against the media and political opponents.

"Since the Cameroonian government refuses to adhere to the most basic human rights standards, the Commonwealth must lead the international community in assisting them to guarantee the safety of their citizens," he added.

[The report is available at www.article19.org.]

MALI: Many reported killed in ethnic clashes

At least 30 people were killed and 10 others seriously injured in communal clashes in northern Mali on Sunday, AFP reported.

AFP said the fighting, between rival Arab communities, occurred in the desert between Gao and Kidal, lasted six hours and had to do with a conflict over territory and leadership in the area.

A unit of the Malian army was sent to the area to restore order and address grievances on both sides, according to AFP, which reported that fighting between the two groups in July left at least 27 dead.

Abidjan, 18 October 1999; 19:05 GMT

[ENDS]

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

Item: irin-english-1804

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

Subscriber: afriweb@sas.upenn.edu Keyword: IRIN

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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