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WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Update 587 (Thursday 4 November 1999)
CONTENTS:
SIERRA LEONE: UN patrol detained by rebels SIERRA LEONE: RUF/AFRC guarantee safety of humanitarian workers SIERRA LEONE: British defence minister meets Kabbah SIERRA LEONE: Aid donors to visit next week COTE D'IVOIRE: Trial of opposition politicians adjourned COTE D'IVOIRE: Government reacts to US State Department Spokesman COTE D'IVOIRE: Washington remains "very concerned" GUINEA-BISSAU: Donors contribute to election budget GUINEA-BISSAU: NGOs assess food security needs GUINEA-BISSAU: Humanitarian goods delayed, CARITAS says
SIERRA LEONE: UN patrol detained by rebels
UN military observers were detained for four hours on Tuesday by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels while on patrol in Segbwema in Sierra Leone's Eastern Province, Fred Eckhard, spokesman for the UN Secretary-General, reported on Wednesday.
The rebels, apparently all intoxicated, said that the patrol did not have clearance to enter the area. They were allowed to leave at 4 p.m and returned safely to Kenema, the main town in the east, Eckhard reported.
The UN observers were checking road conditions around Segbwema as part of preparations for the deployment of UN troops, Eckhard said.
SIERRA LEONE: RUF/AFRC guarantee safety of humanitarian workers
The heads of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Foday Sankoh, and the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), Johnny Paul Koroma, issued a joint statement on Wednesday guaranteeing the safety of humanitarian staff and resources even in times of insecurity.
They condemned attacks on humanitarian workers and the looting of resources. "I therefore order that all vehicles, radios, equipment, emergency items and personal possession and all other items taken from humanitarian staff (be) immediately returned to their owners," they said.
The two rebel leaders said any of their followers who violated the safety and security of humanitarian staff and resources would be disciplined and called on combatants to abide by international law and respect the rights of civilian beneficiaries of humanitarian aid.
"If humanitarian support is distributed to civilians but gets taken by armed individuals, there will be no more distributions in those areas," the joint statement said.
The international humanitarian community has welcomed the statement, according to a news release issued on Thursday by the UN Office of the Humanitarian Coordinator in Freetown.
SIERRA LEONE: British defence official meets Kabbah
British Under Secretary of State for Defence Peter Kilfoyle met with President Ahmad Tejan Kabbah during a short visit to Sierra Leone this week, presidential spokesman Septimus Kaikai told IRIN on Thursday.
"The British have been very helpful in providing assistance in many areas, including defence," Kaikai said. He was unable to give details of the meeting between the two men but said that areas discussed included general defence methods and ways of sustaining peace and security in Sierra Leone.
Kilfoyle, who flew to Freetown from Nigeria on Wednesday, met with ECOMOG officials on the same day. He said ECOMOG's role in Sierra Leone was internationally acclaimed and vital to the survival of the country, an ECOMOG news release said.
He said Britain would continue to support both the peace effort and the post-war development activities in the country, it added.
Kilfoyle left Sierra Leone on Thursday.
SIERRA LEONE: Aid donors to visit next week
A high-level team of aid donors will be in Sierra Leone on 8-11 November, according to a news release on Wednesday from the Humanitarian Assistance Coordination Unit (HACU) in Freetown.
The three-day mission aims "to further demonstrate the commitment of the international donor community to support Sierra Leone's recovery from eight years of civil war," the statement said.
It will include donor representatives from the US, UK, Finland, Sweden, Canada, Ireland, Japan and Norway and will be led by Carolyn McAskie, Deputy United Nations Under Secretary General for Humanitarian Affairs.
COTE D'IVOIRE: Trial of opposition politicians adjourned
The trial of 19 members of the opposition Rassemblement des Republicans (RDR) party in Cote d'Ivoire was adjourned for a week on Thursday after the state requested more time to prepare its case.
The 19, including RDR General Secretary Henriette Diabate and other senior party members, will return to court on 10 November. They were arrested on 27 October after buses and other state property were damaged during a protest organised by the RDR.
The group, whose arrest, the government said, was pursuant to an anti-vandalism law, has been denied bail.
COTE D'IVOIRE: Government reacts to US State Department spokesman
The government of Cote d'Ivoire on Wednesday described as "external interference" a statement by the spokesman of the US State Department, James Rubin, expressing concern over the arrest of 19 opposition politicians in the West African nation.
"It is a mistake for the State Department to say that actions of the judiciary in Cote d'Ivoire 'appear to be aimed at stifling the opposition'," read a statement signed by Moise Koffi Komoue, the Ivoirian ambassador to Washington and addressed to US Secretary of State Madeleine Albright.
"Needless to say, the Government of Cote d'Ivoire rejects this external interference ...," it said.
Rubin had also said that "if the electoral process is opaque, unfair and/or exclusive, it could provoke civil unrest".
However, Komoue said the State Department had no grounds to fear that presidential elections set for October 2000 might not be free and fair and that "by acting in this way, the State Department is encouraging the opposition as they step up their efforts to disturb the political process".
Komoue wrote: "To be very frank, I feel the declaration of 29 October 1999 was probably aimed at encouraging rather than discouraging eventual acts of political violence by opposition groups."
COTE D'IVOIRE: Washington remains "very concerned"
Washington "remains very concerned about recent developments in Cote d'Ivoire", the spokesman of the US State Department, James Rubin, said on Wednesday.
"We call on both the opposition and the government to exercise restraint, act within the law in a manner which supports democratic principles, and respect public services and order," Rubin said in a statement.
"We urge the opposition to refrain from illegal acts and violence and the government to act impartially and within the bounds of established legal procedure," he added.
GUINEA-BISSAU: Donors contribute to election budget
Guinea-Bissau has had commitments from donors totalling more than US $4 million for its 28 November elections, but as at 27 October, not all of the funds had been disbursed, the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its humanitarian situation report for 16-31 October.
Sweden has pledged US $1.4 million and the European Union (EU) about US $670,000. The EU has provided another US $2 million through the UNDP, OCHA said.
Other pledges include The Netherlands (US $465,000), Japan (US $240,000)and China (US $100,000), while Portugal, Brazil and NGOs will be giving in-kind assistance.
Donor countries have also committed funds for electoral observation: France has provided US $160,000, Germany US $55,000, Sweden US $30,000 and the Communidad de paises de lingua portuguesa (PALOP) is providing US $10,000 in kind.
GUINEA-BISSAU: NGOs assess food security needs
Two Belgian NGOs are conducting a three-month mission in Guinea- Bissau with local partners to evaluate medium and long-term needs, particularly with regard to food security, OCHA said in its humanitarian situation report for 16-31 October.
The two Belgian NGOs are Oxfam-Solidarite and Solidarite Socialiste and their mission will end in December 1999.
Meanwhile, WFP distributed food to 1,672 vulnerable people in the Bafata region in October, OCHA said. Food was distributed through CARITAS to malnourished children and a centre for maternal health in Bafata, Bambadinca and Gabu.
GUINEA-BISSAU: Humanitarian goods delayed, CARITAS says
Trucks carrying humanitarian goods took five days to reach Bissau from the Senegal border, OCHA quotes CARITAS as saying.
The delay was attributed to demands for tax payment and paperwork as well as the re-establishment of checkpoints on the road linking Senegal to Bissau. The checkpoints are at Bambadinca, some 80 km from Bissau, and between Banana and Gabu about 100 to 150 km from Bissau.
In a related development, CARITAS discovered only this week that five containers had arrived in the port of Bissau including one that had been there since May.
GUINEA-BISSAU: Sierra Leonean refugees request food and shelter
Refugees from Sierra Leone occupied UNHCR offices to request food and shelter, OCHA reported. WFP will provide food assistance to 72 of the most vulnerable for a three-week period and will work with an NGO, ADRA, on the construction of shelter for the refugees.
Abidjan, 4 November 1999; 18:30 GMT [ENDS]
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Item: irin-english-1917
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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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