IRIN-West Africa Weekly Roundup No 72 for 1998.10.30

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IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup No 72 of Main Events for West Africa covering the period (Friday - Thursday) 23 - 19 October 1998

GUINEA BISSAU: President and rebel leader arrive in Banjul

President Joao Bernardo Vieira and the rebel leader, Ansumane Mane, finally arrived in Banjul, The Gambia, on Thursday for their first and much anticipated direct talks since fighting began on 7 June.

The talks were the result of diplomatic efforts spearheaded by Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama in Bissau last weekend following Mane's announcement of a ceasefire. Earlier last week, Vieira had declared a unilateral ceasefire and proposed direct talks with Mane.

The meeting initially set for Tuesday in Bissau was postponed over disagreements over the venue. At the heart of the problem were security concerns. The meeting at a neutral venue in The Gambia on Wednesday was further delayed over Mane's transport arrangements.

The focus was expected to be the formation of a government of national unity, an amnesty law for the rebels and better living standards for those who fought against Portugal in Guinea Bissau's war of independence, AFP said. Mane has also been demanding the withdrawal of Senegalese and Guinean troops and proposals for political reform.

OAU chairman against intervention force

Meanwhile, the outgoing chairman of the Organisation of Africa Unity, Blaise Compaore of Burkina Faso, said on Monday the deployment of an African force in Guinea Bissau would only prolong the civil war, AFP reported. Compaore was quoted as saying that only a "legal, constitutional solution" to the crisis would prevent the situation from worsening.

Senegal says it backs peace talks

Meanwhile, Senegal Defence Minister Cheikh Hamidou Kane said on Tuesday in Dakar his government supported the peace talks, Reuters reported. The aim of the talks, he said, was "the re-establishment of security in the sub-region by putting an end to the infiltration of Casamance rebels from Guinea Bissau's territory". This would be "fundamental" to installing harmony in relations between the countries, he said.

Thousands flee to neighbouring Guinea

Some 3,165 people fleeing fighting in Guinea Bissau crossed into northwest Guinea recently. A UNHCR official in Abidjan said the refugees, among them Guinean (Conakry) citizens, had arrived in the Guinean town of Koumbia, near Gaoual, 350 km northwest of Conakry, the Guinean capital. They were fleeing last week's fighting between government and rebel troops in several Guinea Bissau towns, especially Bafata and Gabu.

The official said the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies had provided 80 tents and food. Some 80 people, 75 of whom Guinea Bissau nationals, also arrived in Conakry by boat on 21 October.

Meanwhile, the ICRC told IRIN it had evacuated 122 children from Bissau to Wassadou, a Senegalese village some 10 km north of the border with Guinea Bissau. The children were moved from an area of the city particularly exposed to the fighting, Fatou Diouf, the ICRC official said. The evacuees were all Guinea Bissau nationals and were moved at the request of the Interior Ministry.

Displaced heading for smaller islands

Meanwhile, WFP said people fleeing the war had stopped going to the nearby island of Bubaque for fear the fighting might soon reach the location. It said that people were now heading for other smaller islands of the Bijagos archipelago. At the height of the fighting there were an estimated 12,000 displaced people in Bubaque, which is controlled by the government. The current displaced population was estimated at 5,000.

Senegalese, Guinea Bissau troops block food trucks

Senegalese and Guinea Bissau troops hindered the delivery of three trucks of rice by WFP on Monday, the agency told IRIN. The food aid was part of a 300 mt consignment for distribution to some 70,000 destitute people in Cumura and Prabis, west of Bissau.

This was WFP's first emergency delivery in Guinea Bissau since it pulled out its staff from the country last week. The agency said, with the current ceasefire at hand, it planned to deliver an additional 270 mt of rice, enough to feed 80,000 people for one week. An additional 300 mt of rice would be delivered from its warehouse in Bafata, some 110 km east of Bissau, to Prabis as soon as travel for WFP staff is authorised.

Food distribution elsewhere in the country had been suspended due to the security situation but was expected to resume soon as the situation allows in the Bafata and Gabu regions.

Meanwhile, humanitarian sources reported that flights resumed in rebel-held Bafata on Tuesday.

SIERRA LEONE: Rebel leader gets death penalty

Sierra Leoneans in the capital, Freetown, enthusiastically greeted news last week Friday that a high court had sentenced the leader of the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) to death, humanitarian sources told IRIN on Monday.

Foday Sankoh reportedly told Judge Samuel Ademosu he would appeal his civilian court conviction, which Sierra Leonean legal sources confirmed is subject to mandatory review by a higher court.

Fresh fighting in east

Meanwhile, media reports said fresh fighting had broken out in the east of the country last weekend between forces of the ousted Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and the members of the Nigerian-led West African intervention force in Sierra Leone, ECOMOG.

AFP said some 83 rebels had been killed in the clashes in the diamond-mining district of Kono, which analysts say is vital to financing the AFRC's war effort.

As many as 20 rebels had also been killed in the northern town of Alikalia after a three-hour battle with ECOMOG, Reuters reported . The news agency quoted ECOMOG officers as saying fighting started after some 300 rebels attacked local people on Saturday, killing several and mutilating others in what the rebels said was revenge for Sankoh's sentence.

NIGERIA: Ijaw youths step up attacks in southwest

Heavily armed Ijaw youths in the oil-rich Delta area in southwest Nigeria increased attacks against the Itsekiris, burning down their ancestral home and kidnapping residents, media agencies reported last weekend.

Ode-Itsekiri, home to 5,000 people, was razed in a pre-dawn attack on Saturday. The assailants battled briefly with soldiers posted in the village before forcing them to flee. The following day, Ijaw youths raided police stations at Burutu and Bomadi, near the town of Warri, 300 km west of Lagos, stealing arms and ammunition.

In response to the persistent attacks, the government airlifted troops reinforcements to the southwestern oil town of Warri, AP reported on Tuesday. It gave no figures. The reinforcements join 200 troops and anti-riot police sent to Warri last week to stop fighting.

Meanwhile, on Sunday, the military administrator of Delta State, Walter Feghabor, summoned Ijaws and Itsekiris leaders for talks to end the crisis, Reuters reported, quoting state radio.

The clashes between the two communities broke out last year over the relocation of a local council government from an Ijaw to an Itsekiri part of town. The Ijaws are the largest and poorest of the communities in the Delta and have been demanding better amenities and a greater say in government.

Federal government tells oil firms investment safe

As several foreign companies pulled out non-essential staff from Warri last weekend, the Nigerian government told the chief executives of major multinational oil companies on Tuesday that their investments in the volatile oil-rich southeast were safe, Reuters said.

Rear Admiral Mike Akhigbe, deputy to military ruler Abdulsalami Abubakar, met the representatives of six major oil firms in the capital, Abuja. He told them the government had "taken adequate steps to protect lives and property".

The meeting also discussed government plans to restructure "the investment pattern" in the country's oil and gas industry, the report said, quoting state radio.

Nigeria holds a 57 percent stake in joint ventures with the oil giants Shell, Mobil Corp, Chevron Corp, Elf Aquataine, Texaco Inc and Agip SpA.

Commonwealth electoral experts expected

A Commonwealth official told IRIN on Tuesday that seven senior Commonwealth electoral experts were scheduled in Nigeria this week to provide technical aid to the Nigerian electoral commission for the forthcoming local and national elections.

The team will help the Independent Nigerian Electoral Commission (INEC) in planning, managing and training their staff for the elections, which would be held in four stages between December and January.

The experts are from Ghana, Britain, Jamaica, Trinidad and Tobago, India, Canada and Zimbabwe.

US plans anti-drug strategy with government

The United States announced it would work closely again with Nigeria to combat drug trafficking in the region and may decertify Nigeria next March, media organisations reported. The US assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Crime, Randy Beers, quoted by the BBC, said poor relations in recent years had made action against drug traffickers difficult, but he considered that period over.

Nigeria is considered to be a hub for drug traffickers, according to regional experts.

LIBERIA: Refugees in Cote d'Ivoire

A joint Cote d'Ivoire government-WFP fact-finding mission has confirmed the presence of at least 4,000 new Liberian refugees in northern Cote d'Ivoire, UNHCR told IRIN on Tuesday.

A UNHCR spokesman said the mission had visited Danane, Guiglo and Toulepleu prefectures to verify reports that several hundred refugees had crossed the border. They were fleeing a resurgence of fighting in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, on 18 September between supporters of President Charles Taylor and those of former rival faction leader Roosevelt Johnson.

The mission found that over 4,000 people, mostly from Johnson's ethnic Krahn ethnic group, had crossed into Cote d'Ivoire and were now being hosted by local communities. Others were unable to reach Cote d'Ivoire after Liberia closed the border.

UNHCR told IRIN approximately 85 percent of those who had crossed were women and children. UNHCR and Ivorian authorities are trying to find a more permanent location for the refugees, the agency.

Government orders displaced camps closed

President Charles Taylor has ordered the Liberian Refugee Repatriation and Resettlement Commission (LRRRC) to dismantle its camps around Monrovia for the internally displaced by the end of the year and return inmates to their home counties to grow food, 'The Inquirer', a Monrovia-based newspaper, reported on Wednesday.

Humanitarian agencies estimated in July 1997 that by the end of the civil war over 130,000 IDPs had crowded into areas around Monrovia protected by the West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG. "But few have been able to go home as little if any infrastructure outside the capital has been repaired," one source told IRIN.

Government withdraws independent radio shortwave licence

The government last weekend withdrew Star Radio's shortwave licence, further restricting the ability of the Monrovia-based broadcaster to reach audiences beyond the capital, Star Radio told IRIN.

The ministry of posts and telecommunications directive withdrawing the licence was based on "the objectives and ownership" of Star Radio. Star Radio, a non-profit non-commercial broadcaster, is registered in Liberia as an NGO and managed by the Swiss-based Fondation Hirondelle.

The shortwave licences of Catholic Radio Veritas and President Charles Taylor's Liberian Communications Network had so far been unaffected.

The Press Union of Liberia (PUL) said the focus only on one broadcaster seemed "to suggest that there may be other motives for the decision".

Two weeks ago, Minister of Information Joe Mulbah banned Liberia's media from posting Web editions, accusing them of "operating news agencies on the Internet" without permission and running "unauthenticated newspaper articles and gossip columns".

Government increases casualty estimate

Liberia's government on Thursday increased the official toll from 15 to 52 of those killed in fighting in September between troops loyal to President Charles Taylor and supporters of a rival former faction leader, Roosevelt Johnson, media reports said.

The fighting broke out on 18 September after police moved to evict alleged squatters from a part of central Monrovia dominated by Roosevelt Johnson's Krahn ethnic group. At the time, Liberia's defence ministry said some 15 people were killed.

AFP quoted Justice Minister Eddington Varmah as saying 50 Johnson supporters and two other people had died, while 32 others were also wounded in the fighting.

THE GAMBIA: Coup plotters sentenced to death

The Gambia's Supreme Court sentenced three soldiers to death on Tuesday for their part in an attack in July 1997 on the Kartong military base near The Gambia's southern border with Senegal, media reports said.

According to AFP, the three men were also convicted of murder, kidnapping and plotting to overthrow the government of President Yahya Jammeh in 1995. They pleaded not guilty saying that they had attempted to steal weapons from the base to sell in Senegal. A fourth member of the group is still wanted by Gambian security forces.

GUINEA: Opposition says ruling party preparing poll fraud

Guinea's leading opposition party, le Rassemblement du peuple de Guinee (RPG), has accused the government of preparing a "massive fraud" of the presidential elections due on 14 December, AFP reported on Saturday.

Opening its two-day convention last weekend in Conakry, the party said it had "damning evidence" of the fraud. It vowed to reject the results of a "sham" election.

BURKINA FASO: Presidential campaign kicks off

Campaigning in Burkina Faso's presidential race began on Sunday, media reports said. The incumbent, Blaise Compaore, 47, will face opposition for the first time since coming to power in a coup 11 years ago.

His challengers in the 15 November elections are Ram Ouedraogo, 48, of the Green party and retired ambassador Frederic Guirma, 67, leader of le Front pour le refus du rassemblement democratique africain, media reports said.

Nine opposition parties calling themselves the Group of 14 February are boycotting the polls, saying the electoral commission is controlled by the government. The boycotting parties are led by a former minister, Joseph Ki-Zerbo.

WEST AFRICA: ECOWAS summit 30-31 October

West African leaders of the 16 member countries of ECOWAS will meet for their annual summit on 30 - 31 October in Abuja. The summit is expected to strengthen plans towards a common market and sign a conflict resolution treaty, media agencies reported.

The BBC said West African leaders would take the first concrete steps towards setting up a body to prevent and manage regional conflicts. The new body would try to prevent conflicts from breaking out in the first place and have a wider brief for managing existing crises. The situation in Guinea Bissau is also expected to be high on the agenda.

Meanwhile, it is expected that an ECOWAS travellers' cheque will be launched at the summit, constituting a first step towards establishing an ECOWAS single monetary zone, according to Reuters. The cheques will be denominated in West African Units of Account. The summit would also discuss the fight against illegal drugs in the region.

[If you wish to receive the IRIN-WA background briefing on the ECOWAS summit, please send an e-mail to irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci with ECOWAS in the subject line.]

UEMOA decide to draft regional mining code

West African ministers of mineral resources attending a regional monetary meeting on Tuesday in the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, decided to start drafting a common mining code to harmonise related laws in member countries, AFP said.

Speaking at the gathering of the Union economique monetaire Ouest-Africaine (UEMOA), the Cote d'Ivoire minister of mines and oil, Lamine Fadika, said a common code and the establishment of a standard mining contract would facilitate investment in the region. The code is expected to be finalised in the next two years.

Burkina Faso, Cote d'Ivoire, Guinea Bissau, Mali, Niger, Senegal and Togo are UEMOA members.

Abidjan, 30 October 1998, 18:45 gmt

[ENDS]

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Date: Fri, 30 Oct 1998 18:43:27 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> X-Sender: irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org Subject: IRIN-West Africa Weekly Roundup No 72 for 1998.10.30