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IRIN-WA Update 87-97 of Events in West Africa, (Thursday) 20 November 1997
[As a supplement to its weekly round-ups of main events in West Africa, IRIN-WA will produce a daily synopsis of 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: ECOWAS visit postponed
The Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) visit to Sierra Leone planned for Thursday has been postponed. The Committee of Five foreign ministers from Nigeria, Liberia, Guinea, Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire intended to discuss the restoration of civilian rule with members of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), as agreed in Conakry last month. According to the BBC, the visit will now take place on 27 November. "The postponement shows that the timetable for the implementation for the transfer of power is already beginning to slip," the BBC West Africa correspondent said. But a senior ECOWAS source told IRIN on Thursday that the postponement was because of difficulties making all five foreign ministers available at the same time. "ECOWAS will try and put together a smaller group," the source said.
Kamajors besiege Tongo
Kamajor hunter militia are laying siege to the eastern diamond-mining town of Tongo. The militia loyal to ousted civilian president Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah started up a gunfight on Tuesday night, according to residents fleeing the area. A diamond dealer said the Kamajors had captured all roads to the town and were stopping people entering or leaving. AFRC spokesman Allieu Kamara accused the Kamajors of breaking the Sierra Leone ceasefire with the West African peacekeeping force ECOMOG. A Kamajor spokesman told the BBC they only responded when attacked.
Press freedom protest
Reporters Sans Frontieres (RSF) condemned the suspension of a Sierra Leonean newspaper. In an open letter released on Wednesday, RSF urged AFRC Chairman Johnny Paul Koroma to do all in his power to resume publication. The 'Standard Times' was stopped by the AFRC when it claimed the council was involved in a plot to oust the government in neighbouring Guinea.
NIGERIA: First presidential candidate announced
The first Nigerian presidential candidate declared himself on Wednesday. Tunji Braithwaite, described by AFP as a radical lawyer, tried to stand in the 1979 presidential election, but his party the Nigerian Advance Party (NAP) was not registered. A second registered attempt to win the 1983 Nigerian election failed. No other politician has yet decided to stand in the elections scheduled by the current head of state General Sani Abacha for August 1998. Other candidates may be intimidated by the difficulties of opposing Abacha, according to local analysts.
Assassin "hunting" press chief
A gunman is allegedly stalking the head of a Nigerian news group. According to the Independent Communications Network, an assassin hired on a "find and kill" mission is hunting down Bayo Onanuga. The use of assassins was a "very frightening dimension to the recent clampdown on the independent media", a statement released by the group said. Nigerian police arrested the chief editors of a newspaper and two magazines this week, just days after the Abacha government warned the press against derailing its plans to restore civilian rule. Onanuga has now gone underground. The Nigerian Nobel Literature Prizewinner Wole Soyinka, in Italy, called on the international community on Wednesday to isolate Nigeria and impose an oil embargo because of its poor human rights record.
Police impose curfew to end communal violence
Police have imposed a curfew in northern Nigeria to stop communal violence. The curfew in Nassarawa State is aimed at putting an end to clashes between the rival Bassa and Ebira groups that have now killed 24, according to the 'Daily Times' published on Thursday. The state police commissioner told the paper three people had been arrested so far in the fighting. Police reinforcements have now been sent in to restore calm. The violence sparked because of a chieftaincy crisis, according to the commissioner.
MALI: US to increase aid by 20 percent
The White House will ask the US Congress to increase aid to Mali by 20 percent this fiscal year. Half the extra aid will be earmarked for a "political and economic rehabilitation programme" to help Tuareg refugees return to Mali. Other funds will be used to train Malian troops in peacekeeping operations, according to a statement released after US president Bill Clinton met Mali's President Alpha Oumar Konare in Washington on Wednesday. According to AFP, Washington considers Mali a model African country because of its democracy and open markets programme.
The African Development Bank announced a 13.9 million-dollar loan to Mali on Wednesday. Financed through the Fonds Africain de Developpement (FAD), the money will be put towards education projects designed to promote "education planning and support capacity" and raise teaching quality and levels of professional training.
MAURITANIA: Supreme court confirms press shut-down
The Mauritanian supreme court confirmed the three-month suspension of a newspaper on Wednesday. The Ministry of the Interior originally suspended the 'Mauritanie Nouvelles' on 2 October. According to AFP, the ministry gave no reason. Reporters Sans Frontieres denounced a number of African countries, including Mauritania at the Hanoi Francophone summit. Mauritania goes to the polls on 12 December to select a new president.
Abidjan, 20 November 1997, 19.30GMT
[ends]
[The material contained in this communication comes to you via IRIN West Africa, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN-WA Tel: +225 21 73 66 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci for more information or subscription. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this report, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. IRIN reports are archived on the Web at: http://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to archive@dha.unon.org . Mailing list: irin-wa-updates]
Date: Thu, 20 Nov 1997 19:57:20 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-WA Update 87-97 of Events in West Africa, 20 Nov 1997 97.11.20 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971120194945.378A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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