| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
Tel: +225 21-73-54 Fax: +225 21-63-35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci
GUINEA BISSAU: New fronts open amid renewed fighting
The month-long battle between military rebels and Senegalese-backed government forces in Guinea Bissau has extended beyond the devastated capital, Bissau, to two new fronts in the countryside. Diplomats told IRIN that intense shelling resumed in the capital late on Wednesday after a second round of peace talks aboard a Portuguese frigate appeared to have failed. The latest attacks, a diplomat said, indicated that "Senegal may well now be racing against time to rescue this operation".
The loud explosions of artillery shells in Bissau were reported again on Thursday as Senegalese-backed government forces renewed their attempts to dislodge rebel forces from the Bra military headquarters overlooking Bissau and the international airport.
With an estimated 400,000 people on the run in Guinea Bissau, according to humanitarian organisations, the diplomats said there appeared to be no end in sight to the showdown which started on 7 June, when President Joao Bernardo Vieira sacked his former armed forces chief, Ansumane Mane, for allegedly trafficking weapons to separatists across the border in Senegal's southern Casamance province.
The new fronts
According to the Vatican's Missionary News Agency (MISNA) and diplomats in Dakar, Senegal, the new fighting between Senegalese troops and rebels flared in Mansoa, 70 km northeast of Bissau, early on Thursday. Although details were scant, it said it was concerned for the safety of 50,000 people who had fled Bissau to Mansoa and 15 Italian missionaries with them.
"The fighting is incessant and we fear the worst," the MISNA dispatch said. It also reported that three key towns near the Casamance border, Ignore, Bula and Bigene, were under rebel control.
Peace talks stalled
A second round of talks stalled on Wednesday between the government and army mutineers in Guinea Bissau aboard a Portuguese navy vessel after being suspended on Tuesday. Portuguese media said the the climate between the two sides had worsened because of new military operations by Senegalese troops backing the government. Vieira and Mane had both set unacceptable conditions for a ceasefire, the media added. Portuguese Prime Minister Antonio Guterres reiterated in a radio interview that despite the deadlock, Portugal had no intention of intervening militarily in its former colony.
Senegalese may be trapped
In the Senegalese capital, Dakar, a West African military analyst told IRIN on Thursday it appeared that Senegalese troops, who had landed at the southern port of Buba earlier in the week, were trying to link up with 1,300 Senegalese troops "trapped" in Bissau. "They must take Mansoa to turn west and get to Bissau," the source said. "All indications suggest this is what Senegal is trying to do." Local military sources in Dakar told IRIN earlier in the week that Senegal had to send trainee soldiers to the Bissau front to reinforce regular troops who were exhausted.
ECOMOG intervention under discussion
Meanwhile, the idea of an intervention force was under discussion on Wednesday at a special meeting of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) in Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. Vieira had called on ECOMOG last week to intervene to stop the rebellion as it became clear, according to media reports, that Senegalese forces with some help from neighbouring Guinea (Conakry) had failed to quell the rebellion.
But a senior Western diplomat described such an intervention as "secondary", saying Mane and Vieira first had to reach their own accord. ECOMOG could only be used to help stabilise the country once this was achieved. The source added Western donors were unlikely to fund the kind of logistics needed for a meaningful intervention.
Humanitarian needs "great" says UN
In the country's second city, Bafata, some 100 km northeast of Mansoa, a United Nations team with UNDP, UNICEF, WHO and WFP experts returned from a three-day humanitarian mission this week and reported that there were some 280,000 people camped about the town after fleeing fighting in Bissau. The UN team leader, Andrew Marshall, told IRIN there was "clearly a great need" for humanitarian assistance.
A high-level UN team arrived in Dakar last week to assess humanitarian needs in Guinea Bissau and neighbouring countries receiving refugees. The head of the UN team, Martin Barber, told IRIN he would also be looking into ways how the UN could support efforts by ECOWAS and the Organisation of African Unity (OAU) to secure a ceasefire which would ensure access to people in need in Guinea Bissau. Meanwhile, the EU humanitarian commissioner, Emma Bonino, was also seeking a way of getting aid into Guinea Bissau.
NIGERIA: Annan announces release of all political prisoners
United Nations Secretary-General Kofi Annan announced on Thursday that the Nigerian government would release all political prisoners at an "appropriate time".
Speaking at a news conference in the capital, Abuja, Annan did not specifically name Moshood Abiola among those to be freed, but said the opposition politician no longer believed he could claim the presidency. On Wednesday, Annan met Abiola, the jailed presumed winner of the 1993 presidential elections which were annulled by the then military government. Annan said Abiola was more "realistic" than some of us outside, AP said. The UN chief said Abiola had told him that he was not "naive enough to think that I can come out and be president". Some of Abiola's supporters have called on him to head a civilian government.
Annan arrived in Nigeria on Monday on a visit which marked a breakthrough in Nigeria's relations with the international community.
Commonwealth chief meets Abiola
Commonwealth Secretary General Emeka Anyaoku arrived in Nigeria last Sunday for talks with Abubakar in an effort to ease tensions between the organisation and Nigeria. His visit was the first contact since Nigeria's suspension from the Commonwealth in November 1995 over the execution of human rights activists.
Anyaoku held private talks with Abiola on Wednesday for more than an hour, news organisations said. The BBC quoted Anyaoku as saying that Abiola's political standpoint had changed very little in the last few years and he appeared in "apparent good health".
Meanwhile, British Foreign Office Minister Tony Lloyd met Abubakar last Friday on behalf of the European Union (EU). Lloyd also called for Abiola's release, saying it "would be a very significant step" towards resolving Nigeria's political logjam, AFP reported.
Releases after 8 July
However, Abubakar, said the releases would not occur before the end of an official mourning period on 8 July, news agencies reported on Thursday. A one-month mourning period was declared after General Sani Abacha died of heart attack on 8 June.
Human rights activist reacts
Nike Ransome-Kuti, a prominent human rights activist, told IRIN that for most Nigerians the release of political prisoners was a "foregone conclusion". She said the military regime could not have done otherwise if it wanted to demonstrate clearly that it was markedly different from the previous administration.
She added that it was standard practice for the military to curry favour in the early stages. Ransome-Kuti said she was disappointed the UN had not obtained Abiola's release with no conditions attached.
New security adviser appointed
In further changes three weeks after taking office, Abubakar appointed a new national security adviser on Tuesday and dismissed three Abacha-era political counsellors, news organisations reported. Quoting a presidential statement, Nigerian radio said Abubakar had appointed Major General Abdullah Muhammed as his new security adviser with "immediate effect", replacing Ismail Gwarzo. The three dismissed political officers were Wole Oyelese, Linus Onaugu and Wada Nas. According to AFP, all were considered close to Abacha.
SIERRA LEONE: Humanitarian appeal
The UN appealed last Friday for US$ 20.2 million to help meet the humanitarian requirements of people forced to flee fighting and attacks by rebels loyal to Sierra Leone's ousted military junta. The Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said that in the past three months more than 237,000 Sierra Leoneans had fled into neighbouring Liberia and Guinea, swelling refugee populations to over half a million. A further 50,000 people were roaming the countryside in Sierra Leone itself.
"Although the return of the democratically-elected government in February 1998 has brought a level of peace and stability, the consolidation of peace remains a difficult task," the OCHA statement said.
Former junta "contacts" UN
The leadership of Sierra Leone's ousted military junta wrote a letter to UN Secretary General Kofi Annan blaming the Nigerian-led West African intervention force, ECOMOG, for recent atrocities, but saying it sought an end to the fighting. UN officials told IRIN on Monday that the letter, published in the local daily 'Punch' and sent to their office in the capital, Freetown appeared authentic. It was dated 10 May and appeared only to have been received in recent days, the officials said.
The letter was signed by Johnny Paul Koroma, former leader of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), Sam Bockarie, the senior battlefield commander of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and S.Y.B. Rogers, chairman of the People's War Council.
Nigerians blamed
In the letter, the former junta denied all responsibility for the spate of recent atrocities - described as the worst in Africa by Amnesty International. Instead it said "the Nigerians and their allies" were to blame. The letter also accused ECOMOG of burning towns and villages, such as the destroyed "diamond-rich Koidu town", and called for the release of RUF leader Foday Sankoh, who has been detained in Nigeria for over a year.
Government cautions media
Journalists in Sierra Leone said on Tuesday they were concerned at a government decision announced last weekend that local newspapers submit articles on security to the ECOMOG press office for clearance.
LIBERIA: Government denies harrassment
The government of President Charles Taylor "categorically" denied reports that security men had visited the home of the chairman of the Justice and Peace Commission (JPC) and threatened to arrest him on his return from a trip abroad, independent Star Radio reported on Tuesday. The denial followed a report on Monday that security men had been seen at the home of Koffi Woods, the Catholic-based JPC chairman and fears by the JPC for their security.
Five former fighters reportedly in The Gambia
The Liberian government produced a letter claiming that five former wartime opponents of Taylor thought to have disappeared recently were in fact in The Gambia, Star Radio reported on Tuesday. The five were described as members of a defunct faction once opposed to Taylor called the United Liberation Movement of Liberia (ULIMO-J).
A presidential spokesman, Reginald Goodridge, Star Radio said, exhibited a letter from the Gambian immigration director stating that the five former fighters had arrived in The Gambia on 6 June. A UN source confirmed to IRIN on Tuesday that the letter had been published in the press and that it appeared to be genuine.
Mosque investigation
A delegation of the Inter-Faith Council of Liberia started an investigation into a spate of mosque burning incidents in northern Nimba county, Star Radio reported. It said the three-day mission, which began on Monday, was expected to consult with local government officials, security personnel and the population on these incidents.
Liberia's predominantly Muslim Mandingo community in Nimba County appealed on 23 June to the government for protection following a series of recent arson attacks on homes, a mosque and attacks on individuals.
WEST AFRICA: Mini-summit on regional security in Abuja
The presidents of Sierra Leone and Liberia signed a communique on Thursday at the end of a mini-summit in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, pledging "to cooperate to promote an end to the fighting in Sierra Leone and foster peace and security in the sub-region", AFP reported. The communique also reaffirmed their commitment not to permit their territories to be used to destabilise the other. The two leaders were invited by the Nigerian leader, Abdulsalam Abubakar, to the mini-summit to discuss "the next moves to take in terms of regional security", a Nigerian official quoted by Reuters said.
Beye laid to rest
Alioune Blondin Beye, Special Representative of the United Nations in Angola, who died in a plane crash at the weekend, was buried on Tuesday in Bamako. Media reports said his funeral in the Malian capital was presided by President Alpha Oumar Konare with delegations from Angola and the UN Under-Secretary-General, Bernard Mounier.
Beye, 59, a barrister and former Malian foreign minister, was killed on Friday when the light aircraft in which he was travelling crashed in thick bush late on Friday outside Abidjan, Cote d'Ivoire. In a special tribute, Ivorian foreign minister, Amara Essy, and Malian Prime Minister Ibrahim Boubacar Keita called Beye a "worthy son of Africa, a fearless soldier of peace".
International Court gives border dispute deadline
The International Court of Justice (ICJ) in The Hague gave Nigeria nine months to present written arguments on its border dispute with Cameroon over the disputed Bakassi peninsula. An ICJ press release said it had thrown out Nigeria's claim in June that it did not have jurisdiction to rule in the dispute. The Bakassi peninsula, which straddles the border between Nigeria and Cameroon, has been the scene of sporadic fighting.
Abidjan, 3 July 1998, 17:00 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
| Previous Menu | Home Page | What's New | Search | Country Specific |