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IRIN-WA Update 88-97 of Events in West Africa, (Friday) 21 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.]
LIBERIA: Taylor wants ECOMOG force commander replaced
President Charles Taylor asked regional leaders on Thursday to replace the commander of the ECOMOG peacekeeping force. In a national address, Taylor said he had asked the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to bring in a general who is trained to work in a political environment. "There is no more need for a battlefield commander because this is no more wartime," he said. Taylor and force commander Major-General Victor Malu have been divided over ECOMOG involvement in the restructuring of the Armed Forces of Liberia (AFL). ECOMOG says it is mandated to restructure the AFL under the Abuja II peace accord which brought an end to Liberia's seven-year civil war. If it cannot do this, it will leave. Last week, Taylor announced he would arm 1,000 Liberian troops and deploy them on the border with Sierra Leone without ECOMOG agreement. Taylor has since reportedly softened his position saying ECOMOG should stay for another two years.
A local source in Monrovia told IRIN on Friday that the city was very apprehensive. "ECOMOG may stay, it may go. Just as things seem to be better, then they deteriorate again." Taylor says an ECOWAS mission will arrive in Monrovia on Saturday to begin negotiating a new mandate for ECOMOG.
Sierra Leone Militia arrested in Liberia
Several Sierra Leonean Kamajor militia have been arrested in Liberia. According to Taylor, Kamajors loyal to ousted Sierra Leonean president Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah, were threatening national security. Speaking on Thursday, Taylor said the threat was "not sufficient for our citizens to panic." Taylor claimed the government had also seized "massive documentation" identifying individuals involved in clandestine activities on the Sierra Leonean border. Taylor said that although the AFL is not currently armed, "there are ways that we will take the arms from the people who have them, and we will use them."
A local source in Monrovia told IRIN on Friday that it was possible some Kamajors had been arrested in Liberia, but genuine prisoners would normally have been paraded for the press by now. According to the source, there is evidence ECOMOG has been training Kamajors to fight the Sierra Leone Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC). The Kamajors have also been linked to the Alhaji Kromah wing of former United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO-K) which fought Taylor's National Patriotic Front of Liberia (NPFL) during the civil war. "Taylor is unsympathetic to the Kamajors because of their ULIMO-K connection. ECOMOG is supporting the militia because they oppose the AFRC. Possibly, this is what the whole wider dispute between Taylor and ECOMOG is about," the source said.
SIERRA LEONE: AFRC shuts down one paper and un-bans another
The AFRC suspended one newspaper on Friday while lifting its ban on another. According to AFP, the AFRC put 'The Democrat' under "temporary suspension" when Thursday's edition reported a burglary at the British ambassador's offices and home by seven uniformed men. The earlier ban on the 'Standard Times' was lifted when the publication retracted its accusation that the AFRC was involved in a plot to destabilise Guinea.
Power restored to Freetown
Engineers restored electrical power to Freetown on Thursday night. The National Power authority refused to say how it ended the three-month blackout caused by a lack of essential lubricants used to dilute generator fuel oil. UN and ECOWAS sanctions on the AFRC ban the import of such goods. "We worked out a secret scheme which paid off", an engineer told AFP. The news agency reported a carnival-like atmosphere in the city when lights came on.
NIGERIA: Elections commission gives political parties 2.9 million-dollar start-up grant
The Nigerian elections commission granted 2.9 million dollars to five political parties as start-up funds on Thursday. According to state television, each party received a cheque for 50 million naira (US$ 580,000) from Chief Sumner Dagogo-Jack, chairman of the National Electoral Commission (NECON). Dagogo-Jack told the parties that the cheques were a gesture of government recognition help was needed to "cushion the financial outlay" involved in campaigning. Three of the five registered parties in Nigeria are considering the current head of state General Sani Abacha as their consensus candidate. According to Reuters, local opposition groups dismiss the transition to civilian rule as a "sham intended to prolong the grip of the military."
Journalists freed
The detained chief editor and president of the privately-owned 'This Day' newspaper was released on Thursday. According to official sources quoted by AFP, Nduka Obaigbena was arrested last Friday in Abuja and taken to the Lagos headquarters of the Department of Military Intelligence. Although officials gave no reason for Obaigbena's arrest, his paper linked his detention to an article on four government officials who the paper said were close Abacha "collaborators". According to a Reuters count, at least six newspaper editors have been arrested in Nigeria over recent days following an Abacha warning to the press against "derailing" the transition to civilian rule. Other newspaper editors are reported to be in hiding.
NIGER: Niger holds peace talks with rebels
Niger opened peace talks with Tuareg rebels in Algiers on Wednesday. According to AFP, the talks are taking place between the government and the Tuareg Union of the Forces of Armed Resistance (UFRA). Tuaregs took up arms in Niger and Mali in 1990 denouncing alleged domination by black governments. The rebels broke a 1995-peace agreement in September. Since the resurgence of violence, at least 60 people have been killed in clashes with the army in the north of the country. Black Toubou nomads allied to UFRA still hold out against any deal, according to AFP.
GUINEA: Government appoints first civilian defence minister
Guinea has selected its first civilian defence minister. According to a Radio France Internationale report on 20 November, the former higher education minister Dorank Assifat Diasseny was appointed by a decree signed by President Lansana Conte. Diasseny is the first civilian to hold the position in 13 years.
Abidjan, 21 November 1997, 18.30GMT
[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: Sat, 22 Nov 1997 12:21:22 +0300 (GMT+0300) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci> Subject: IRIN-WA Daily 21 Nov 97 Message-ID: <Pine.LNX.3.91.971122122006.743A@dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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