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GUINEA BISSAU: Shelling intensifies
Shelling that has destroyed the capital, Bissau, continued on a daily basis throughout the week as mediation efforts intensifed to end the three-week military rebellion in Guinea Bissau, news agencies reported. In the heaviest bombardments reported, the Vatican news service said Senegalese ships started firing at targets in Bissau on Thursday.
The Missionary Service News Agency (MISNA) also reported "intense fighting" between Senegalese-backed government forces and rebels holed up at the international airport. "Senegalese ships are bombing Bissau," MISNA said in a brief dispatch. "The situation of the refugees and the missionaries is very alarming. According to Catholic Church sources in Bissau, there is great worry that the refugee centres and missionary personnel are at risk."
The rebellion erupted on 7 June, a day after armed forces chief General Ansumane Mane was sacked following the suspension of several army officers accused of selling arms to separatist rebels in Senegal's southern province of Casamance. Analysts said Senegalese forces had intervened on behalf of President Joao Bernardo Vieira of Guinea Bissau, mainly because they were concerned at the potential for an escalation of the separatist conflict in Senegal's southern province of Casamance.
Guerrilla war begins in Bissau, says Senegal
Senegal said on Tuesday rebels had started a guerrilla war in the suburbs of Bissau under the cover of a cashew nut plantation, according to the Senegalese daily 'Le Sud Quotidien'. The paper quoted a Senegalese army statement as saying the rebels: "Unable to carry out any significant attack, they have since been trying to infiltrate Bissau in small groups to wage a guerrilla campaign."
Bishop attempts to mediate
On Wednesday, the Catholic Bishop of Bissau, Settimio Ferrazzetta, attempted once more to negotiate a ceasefire. News reports said the 74-year-old bishop met rebels loyal to Mane. Although he did not manage to see Mane, the Portuguese Lusa news agency said he had returned "hopeful". But he said the conditions demanded by the rebels would be difficult for Vieira to accept. In a related development, the prime minister of Cape Verde, Carlos Veiga, earlier this week said he would lead a mediation attempt if an effective ceasefire were in place and humanitarian aid allowed into the country.
Conflict threatens region, Portugal warns
Portugal's secretary of state for foreign affairs, Luis Amado, warned that the raging conflict could engulf its neighbours, AFP reported on Tuesday. "If the confused situation degenerates into guerrilla warfare, that would provoke the destabilisation of (the entire) West African region," he warned. Gambian President Yahya Jammeh, meanwhile, said on Monday the army rebellion was a direct consequence of the separatist war going on in Casamance, according to AFP.
Regional and international efforts under way
The West African regional economic organisation, ECOWAS, the OAU and the UN sent high-level missions to the region this week to assess the political and humanitarian situation in Guinea Bissau. Lansana Kouyate, ECOWAS executive secretary, said in Banjul, the capital of The Gambia, that the West African peacekeeping force, ECOMOG, could intervene in Guinea Bissau if it became "necessary", AFP said. Kouyate is touring the countries most closely associated with the conflict to find a solution to the crisis.
A high-level UN mission led by Martin Barber of the the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and comprising representatives of the UN Department of Political Affairs and other UN agencies arrived in Dakar, the Senegalese capital, on Thursday to assess the situation.
Refugees flow into Guinea
In Geneva, UNHCR said hundreds of people were leaving the country by land or by boat to Senegal and Guinea (Conakry). Guinean authorities at entry points estimated that 12,000 people had arrived since 11 June, though officially the border between Guinea and Guinea Bissau is closed. UNHCR reported that tens of thousands of displaced persons had fled the border town of Gabu, 70 kms from the border with Guinea. Meanwhile, the Catholic MISNA news agency, quoting its own sources within Guinea Bissau, said an estimated 250,000 people had fled the fighting in and around Bissau. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that mechanisms for accessing areas in Guinea Bissau were under discussion. The border between Senegal and Guinea Bissau still remains closed, preventing any movement of goods and people between the two countries.
Meanwhile, some 8,000 refugees who had fled to the islands off the coast of Guinea Bissau received their first food aid consignment in two weeks, the BBC reported.
A WFP report said on Tuesday the ICRC had distributed 14 mt of food to hospitals in Bissau through church groups to a total of 3,500 people. The ICRC also reported a concentration of about 100,000 displaced people from the capital near Mansoa, 60 km north of Bissau. There are currently no food aid stocks available outside of Bissau to assist these people.
TOGO: EU declines to acknowledge Eyadema's re-election
News agencies reported on Thursday that the European Union (EU) and the Togolese government traded bitter accusations on the announcement of the incumbent, General Gnassingbe Eyadema, as the winner of Sunday's presidential polls. The EU called on the Togolese authorities to resume a stalled vote-counting process and to publish "accurate results" of the polls. An EU statement, quoted by AFP, said the electoral process no longer presented "the required guarantees of transparency". The dispatch added that the results were published before tabulation had finished and were issued when only a tiny minority of results had been counted.
A second EU statement from the German Embassy in Lome expressed its deep concern at the reported suspension of the vote count, AFP reported on Thursday. Germany represents the EU in Togo. In Paris, a spokesman of the French ministry of foreign affairs, Yves Doutriaux, echoed the same concerns.
Government blasts EU stance
The Togolese government described the EU observers as "biased" in favour of the opposition, Radio Togo said. In a two-page communique, the government said it no longer recognised the EU electoral observers as having any "legal right" to monitor the election process.
On Tuesday, the Togolese interior minister, General Seyi Memene, said provisional figures showed Eyadema had polled 52 percent of the votes, adding the results had been sent to the constitutional court for an official proclamation. Eyadema's only close challenger was Gilchrist Olympio, who reportedly polled 34.6 percent, news agencies said. The publication of the figures came after the electoral commission's head, Nana Awa, resigned late on Tuesday.
Opposition claims victory
Togo's main opposition leader, Olympio, accused the government on Wednesday of robbing him of victory in the poll and called for a freeze of Western aid to the country, news organisations reported. Olympio, quoted by Reuters, said based on the figures provided by returning polling officers, he believed he had won 59 percent of the votes. He called on the EU to withhold its aid, as promised, if elections were not free and fair.
Demonstrators silenced after poll results
Within hours of the announcement of Eyadema's victory, thousands of youths took to the streets in Lome and were dispersed by police using tear gas, news organisations reported. Witnesses said demonstrators tried to march on the United States embassy in the city centre to protest to the international community, but the police prevented them from reaching it.
NIGERIA: New hopes for Abiola's imminent release
In an attempt to resolve the political impasse on the transition to democratic rule, the new Nigerian leader, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, met Moshood Abiola, the jailed presumed winner of the annulled 1993 polls, twice this week to discuss his release and try to break years of political and ethnic tensions stemming from his detention, news agencies reported. "I assure you Abiola's release could be in a matter of days," one government source told Reuters on Wednesday. He said the sticking point was persuading Abiola to give up his claim to the presidency.
News agencies reported that Abubakar could create a government of national unity. Quoting excerpts from the Lagos daily, 'The Guardian', AFP said discussions between Abubakar, the political parties and Abiola last week had suggested a unity government was the most attractive option for resolving Nigeria's "political log jam".
US welcomes new government's measures, EU envoy in Abuja
The US government on Wednesday welcomed steps taken by Abubakar's regime to restore civilian rule and said it would soon dispatch a high-level envoy for talks, AFP reported. State. US Under-Secretary of State Thomas Pickering would travel to Abuja to discuss Nigeria's transition.
In what diplomats said was the first sign that Britain was ending Nigeria's isolation, the British Prime Minister Tony Blair has had his first contact with Abubakar since he succeeded General Sani Abacha in early June, the BBC reported.
Blair welcomed the release of some of Nigeria's political prisoners, but raised concerns over human rights and remaining political detainees, including Abiola. Blair's spokesman added that Abubakar would meet UK Foreign Officer Minister Tony Lloyd on Friday in Abuja. Lloyd is expected to visit Nigeria for the EU.
IMF urges reform
The IMF has urged Nigeria to improve relations with the outside world and make economic reforms, Reuters reported last Thursday. Quoting a letter released in the capital, Abuja, by Nigerian Finance Minister Anthony Ani, Reuters said the IMF letter told Nigeria to "unify its dual exchange rates system, sell off some state enterprises, improve economic policy co-ordination, and sort out its multi-billion dollar debt".
SIERRA LEONE: WFP warns of food crisis
The United Nations World Food Programme has warned that rural Sierra Leone is likely to face a serious food shortage in coming months because of the onset of heavy rains and continued assaults by rebel fighters loyal to the ousted military junta. A WFP report said food harvested and stored by farmers at the end of last year had since been exhausted or was lost during the rampant looting and destruction by retreating junta forces.
Rights group calls for help for refugees
The New York-based rights group, Human Rights Watch (HRW), said it was concerned at the desperate situation of Sierra Leonean refugees fleeing to Liberia, media reports said on Thursday. HRW said over 30,000 refugees were in urgent need of food and medicine, but international organisations had been slow to help.
ECOMOG forces get a boost
The West African intervention force, ECOMOG, battling rebels loyal to the country's ousted military junta are being reinforced by a special contingent of 300 French-trained Gambian troops and a US$ 4 million package of military equipment from the United States, media reports said on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, ECOMOG Force Commander Major General Timothy Shelpidi visited Sierra Leone where he addressed more than 4,000 surrendered soldiers encamped at the Lungi military garrison, an ECOMOG statement said on Monday. Shelpidi told them ECOMOG would assist in "retraining the soldiers after proper screening."
Liberian message of "good neighbourliness"
President Charles Taylor of Liberia was reported on Tuesday to have sent Senator Kerkura Kpoto to the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown, with a message to President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah aimed at ensuring peaceful relations between the two countries. It was time, he was quoted as saying, "that the non-aggression pact between the two countries is reactivated so as to put an end to mutual suspicions on both sides".
LIBERIA: ECOMOG soldiers leave Monrovia checkpoints
Citing provocations by government security forces, West African peacekeeping troops in Liberia have been ordered to leave checkpoints in the capital, Monrovia, media reports said on Wednesday. The ECOMOG commander, General Timothy Shelpidi, told a news conference that in the most recent incident, a scuffle developed after a member of Taylor's special security force refused to submit to a routine search at an ECOMOG checkpoint. Shelpidi told a news conference that ECOMOG troops would not return to the checkpoints until the government guaranteed their safety and right to operate.
Missing faction members in Gambia, government says
Meanwhile, Liberian government officials said six missing members of the former Krahn-dominated ULIMO-J faction were actually in The Gambia, independent Star Radio reported last Saturday. News reports suggested last week that the men had been abducted by security forces after they attempted to flee Liberia. But Acting Justice Minister Leroy Urey said a passenger flight manifest proved at least five had used one-way tickets to board a plane for The Gambia, Star Radio said.
WEST AFRICA: World Bank boss discusses development
Seventeen African leaders met World Bank President James Wolfensohn on Sunday for an informal summit in Dakar, Senegal, devoted to development issues, news agencies reported. Although there was no set agenda for the one-day talks, globalisation, regional integration and management of natural resources featured in the discussions.
Abidjan, 26 June 1998, 16:00 gmt
[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/ or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to archive@dha..unon.org. Mailing list: irin-wa-weekly]
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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