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WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 12 covering the period 20-26 March 1999
WEST AFRICA: ECOWAS condemns use of children In armed conflicts
Foreign ministers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) this week condemned the use of children in armed conflicts in the sub-region, Africa, and worldwide, PANA reported.
At a meeting that ended on Wednesday in Bamako, the foreign ministers urged every ECOWAS member to take the measures needed to dismantle all groups that use children as combatants.
They also appealed to armed groups that have child soldiers
to release them immediately and hand them over to appropriate
organs for their rehabilitation, PANA reported on Thursday.
SIERRA LEONE: Religious leaders pray for peace
Religious leaders gathered together on Thursday at the Bank complex, Kington, Freetown, to pray for peace, Alimamy Philip Koroma, General Secretary of the Council for Churches, told IRIN on Friday.
Over 80 leaders representing Catholics, Protestants
and Muslims throughout Freetown attended the retreat
and spent the day "in reflection and prayer,"
Koroma said. It is the first time such a retreat has
taken place, but he said he hoped it would now be ongoing.
Liberia, Burkina deny helping rebels
The governments of Liberia and Burkina Faso have denied an accusation by the departing ECOMOG commander, General Timothy Shelpidi, that they have been helping rebels in Sierra Leone.
"For several months we have repeatedly said that we have nothing to do with Sierra Leone and have no intention of being involved militarily there," Liberian Deputy Information Minister J.Milton Teahjay told IRIN on Monday. "Nor do we have any expansionist plans in the sub-region."
On 19 March, Foreign minister Youssouf Ouedraogo of
Burkina Faso also denied any involvement by his country
in the Sierra Leone conflict, according to Africa No.
1 radio in Libreville.
Scores die in boat disaster
Meanwhile, news organisations reported that around 70 persons died when the boat in which they were travelling sank on 17 March off the coast of Sierra Leone.
Food shortages in the east
Bo and Kenema, the main towns in eastern Sierra Leone, are suffering food shortages, humanitarian sources told IRIN this week. Although the security situation remained calm in Bo, there were nearly 6,000 IDPs from the north and east of the country living in makeshift camps, according to Syl Fannah, a spokesman for CARE International.
In Kenema, food supplies are also running low, said Fannah. Shelter was an even bigger problem for the estimated 60,000 IDPs there, especially with the approach of the rainy season, he added.
United States calls for peace
Meanwhile the United States has called on the warring parties in Sierra Leone to begin peace talks, AFP reported. Washington is "urging all players to come to the negotiating table to end the mayhem," Susan Rice, Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, told an international relations committee hearing in Washington.
The BBC reported British Prime Minister Tony Blair as saying during a meeting in London with Nigerian president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo that the UK would continue to support the elected government in Freetown. He also urged Nigeria not to withdraw its troops until the country was secure.
LIBERIA: Crisis threatens to spill over to neighbouring nations
A crisis between rival Liberian politicians threatened to spill over into neighbouring countries following a threat by President Charles Taylor to pursue his enemies across his nation's borders.
Taylor was reported on Tuesday by Reuters as warning Liberia's neighbours that he would launch pursuits inside their territory if they allowed it to be used as a springboard for raids against Liberia. Reacting to the warning, Sierra Leone's presidential spokesman, Septimus Kaikai, told IRIN on Wednesday that Taylor, "as a signatory to the peace pact at the summit in Conakry, should adhere to its principles".
Under a non-aggression pact signed in Conakry in November 1998, the leaders of Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone agreed to make sure their territories are not used as bases for attacks on others.
Taylor's warning came on the heels of a threat made
by his civil-war rival, Alhaji Kromah, in a radio interview
earlier this month. Claiming that two of his men had
disappeared after being detained by government forces,
Kromah said that if Taylor did not produce them "I
will force him to do so".
The government later produced the men, saying they had
been involved in arms trafficking.
Refugees continue to sail home
Over the past two weeks, UNHCR has repatriated 513 of the 720 Liberians in Freetown who had registered with it to go back home by sea, according to the UN agency.
In a report on Wednesday, UNHCR said 1,225 refugees were repatriated from Freetown, N'zerekore in Guinea, and Tabou, Guiglo and Toulepleu in Cote d'Ivoire in the past week.
Since May 1997, at least 102,500 Liberians have returned home through the UNHCR, the agency said.
NIGERIA: Soldiers jailed following 1990 coup released
Nigeria's Provisional Ruling Council - its military government - this week released eight soldiers jailed in connection with a 1990 coup plot, news reports said.
In early March, the PRC freed 45 people convicted of plotting to topple the late military leader, General Sani Abacha, in 1995 and 1997.
Court grants Falae's lawyer's access to elections papers
Lawyers for unsuccessful presidential candidate Olu Falae secured permission from the Appeal Court in Abuja to inspect material used in February's elections, news reports said.
Justice George Oguntade, who delivered the ruling, said
it was "just and equitable" that Olu Falae,
who is contesting the election result, be given access
to five sets of poll documents, `The Guardian` of Lagos
reported.
Obasanjo meets UNHCR
United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees Sadako Ogata and Olusegun Obasanjo on Thursday discussed future collaboration and the plight of refugees in Africa during a visit to the UNHCR office in Geneva by the Nigerian president-elect, UNHCR reported.
The meeting was "a vital opportunity to share our
dismay over the continuing mayhem in Sierra Leone,"
Ogata said afterwards.
Obasanjo blamed economic deprivation for many of Africa's
refugee crises, and urged that initiatives to prevent
and resolve conflicts should go hand in hand with steps
to address poverty and injustice, UNHCR reported.
IMF support
International Monetary Fund (IMF) Managing Director Michael Camdessus told Nigerians last week the fund was ready to offer their country "full support" in designing and implementing a new strategy for economic growth.
He also told delegates at a conference on Nigeria's economic advancement, held on 18 March in Abuja, what he felt the country needed to do to attain sustainable, high-quality growth, including full participation of all citizens (political forces, the private sector, NGOs, the churches, trade unions) in building a vibrant democracy.
GUINEA BISSAU: Security Council calls for action on elections
The United Nations Security Council said on Wednesday
that Guinea Bissau needed to set the timetable for
general elections "at an early date"
and could count on the world body for help.
Elections due at the end of March under a peace accord signed in November last have been pushed back, partly because of delays in the deployment of ECOMOG peacekeepers and in the departure of the Guinean and Senegalese troops that backed President Joao Bernardo Vieira.
Prime Minister Francisco Fadul also said at his inauguration in February that the eight-month civil war made it impossible to organise elections sooner than September.
In a statement, the Security Council urged UN member states to provide help to rebuild the country and to support ECOMOG. It said a donors' conference would be held early May in Geneva.
UNHCR staff return to Bissau
Meanwhile, UNHCR staff returned to the capital, Bissau, in mid-March and have begun planning for the repatriation of refugees from four regional countries, UNHCR reported this week.
Around 5,000 refugees fled to Cape Verde, The Gambia, Guinea and Senegal during the fighting last year between forces supporting Vieira and those loyal to former armed forces chief of staff General Ansumane ManÈ.
UNHCR staff will also help resettle theys in the deployment of ECOMOG peacekeepers ons.
Rival troops return to barracks
Troops from the rival factions in Guinea Bissau have
begun withdrawing from temporary quarters along their
former front line around the capital and returning
to their respective barracks, Lusa reported.
Meanwhile, in a communique issued this week, Amnesty
International accused both sides of committing abuses
during the conflict, including arbitrary detentions,
torture and summary executions.
TOGO: Ruling RTP makes clean sweep of parliamentary seats
The ruling Rassemblement togolais du Peuple (RTP) won 79 of the 81 seats in parliament while two went to independents, according to provisional results released by the Commission electorale nationale (CEN) in Lome.
The opposition boycotted the election, refusing to participate unless its complaints of fraud at mid-1998 presidential polls were addressed.
The CEN said voter turnout at Sunday's legislative election was just over 66 percent, while the opposition put it at no more than 10 percent.
CAPE VERDE: Portuguese city launches food drive for Fogo
The central Portuguese city of Leiria has launched a food collection campaign to help the drought-stricken population of Sao Filipe on Cape Verde's Fogo island, Lusa reported.
According to the mayor of Leiria, the campaign aims to collect 70 mt of rice, 35,000 litres of beans and 21,000 litres of cooking oil, as well as other staples, for the 1,000 families in Sao Filipe. There has been little or no rain on the island for four years, Lusa said.
UNITED NATIONS: Human Rights Commission starts session
The human rights situation in the DRC, Rwanda, Burundi, Sudan, Nigeria and Equatorial Guinea are on the agenda of the 55th session of the UN Commission on Human Rights, which began this week in Geneva.
According to the provisional agenda for the five-week meeting, the 53-member commission was also scheduled to address the issues of child soldiers, mercenaries, traffic in women and girls and the effect of structural adjustment policies on the full enjoyment of human rights, and other topics.
At a news conference in New York on 19 March, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Mary Robinson said another issue to be addressed by the Commission was the prevention of racial and ethnic tensions, which were the "seeds of conflict" and resultant violations of human rights.
GUINEA: Army purge
Guinean President Lansana Conte has sacked armed forces chief of staff Colonel Oumar Soumah and 30 other officers in connection with a 1996 army mutiny, AFP reported. Soumah and 17 others were deemed guilty of high treason, while 13 others were sent on early retirement for committing "gross errors" during the mutiny, when Conte's government was nearly overthrown.
SAO TOME/PRINCIPE: Finance minister resigns over treasury bill scam
Alfonso Varela, Sao Tome's Minister of planning, finance and cooperation resigned Thursday in the wake of a scandal involving the illicit issuing of treasury bills worth about half a billion US dollars, LUSA reported on Friday.
Varela did not give a reason for his resignation but, according to LUSA, the Prime Minister, Guilherme Posser da Costa, said it was for "personal reasons" linked to the scandal.
Varela had been appointed as part of a team investigating the scandal which had already led to the removal of the former governor of the archipelago's central bank.
GHANA: Training for peacekeepers
Ghanaian and US forces have begun a four-week exercise in international peacekeeping and humanitarian operations, Ghana radio reported this week.
The training - part of the African Crisis Response Initiative (ACRI)- is a follow-up to similar exercises last year in which some 800 Ghanaian troops took part, the radio said.
ACRI is a US-sponsored training programme which, according to the US Department of Defence, is conducted in coordination with African partners, the Organisation of African Unity and the United Nations. It was begun in 1997.
BURKINA FASO: Demonstration against 'impunity'
Around 3,000 people took part on 20 March in a peaceful demonstration in Ouagadougou against "unpunished crimes" and the suspicious death of journalist Norbert Zongo, in Ougadougou, news organisations reported.
Also on 20 March, two people were wounded when opposition militants tried to prevent the start of a popular cross country race in Kodougou, 100 kilometres west of Ougadougou, Reuters reported. The race was organised by youths of the ruling party, but opposition activists argued that it would "tarnish the memory of Zongo."
Kodougou is the home town of Zongo, former editor of 'The Independent' whose suspicious death last December led to tension in Burkina Faso.
According to new reports, his burnt body, along with three others, was recovered from a car which apparently showed no signs of fire damage.
SENEGAL: Japan grants 600 million yen
Japan and Senegal signed a grant agreement on Wednesday of 200 million yen (US $10 million) for the import of rice, the Japanese Embassy in Dakar told IRIN on Friday. Another Japanese grant of 400 million yen (US $20 million) will to go towards supporting the environment and social development.
Business arbitration court inaugurated
Senegal's first business arbitration court was yesterday
inaugurated by President Abdou Diouf.
The court, long sought by the business community, is
to be headed by ex-minister Mamodou Toure, a former
head of the Africa Department of the International
Monetary Fund (IMF).
MAURITANIA: Court refuses to dismiss case against Ould Daddah
A court in Nouakchott, capital of Mauritania, has rejected a defence motion for the dismissal of the charges against opposition leaders Ahmed Ould Daddah and Mohameden Ould Babah, AFP reported.
Defence lawyers had argued that the charges were not based on fact.
The two men were charged of disrupting public order after they accused the government of agreeing to accept Israeli nuclear waste in Mauritania and face up to five years in prison if found guilty.
The two members of the Union des forces democratiques, which Ould Daddah chairs, were initially arrested in December 1998 and held under house arrest in the desert before their release on 17 January.
WESTERN SAHARA: Extended MINURSO mandate recommended
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended a one-month extension of the mandate of the United Nations Mission for the Referendum in Western Sahara (MINURSO) to 30 April.
MINURSO's mandate includes monitoring a ceasefire and identifying and registering qualified voters for a referendum that will decide whether Western Sahara should gain full independence or become part of Morocco.
In his latest report on the former Spanish colony, the Secretary-General said Morocco had indicated its acceptance, in principle, of a UN-proposed package designed to accelerate the referendum process. This was on the understanding that certain amendments would be incorporated in protocols related to voter identification and appeals, and that the UN Mission would provide the parties with operational directives and a revised timetable.
Abidjan, 26 March 1999, 18:35 GMT
[ENDS]
Date: Fri, 26 Mar 1999 18:38:00 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 12-1999 [19990327]
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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