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IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup of Main Events 62 for West Africa covering the period (Friday-Thursday) 14 August - 20 August 1998
SIERRA LEONE: ECOMOG battles with rebels continue
News agencies reported at the weekend that the West African intervention force, ECOMOG, had pushed rebels from various strongholds in eastern and northern Sierra Leone.
Reuters reported fierce fighting in the eastern city of Kailahun after ECOMOG troop reinforcements from Guinea flushed out Revolutionary United Front (RUF) fighters in the area on Saturday.
The dispatch, quoting a source close to ECOMOG, said: "The Guinean troops have in the past two days captured the main highway leading into the town and are now shelling rebel positions in the town and pushing forward." The Kailahun district is a major diamond centre and is the rebels' last big stronghold in eastern Sierra Leone.
In a related development, Sierra Leonean soldiers retook the town of Kruloba, the rebels' main base in northern Sierra Leone near the Guinean border, AFP said on Saturday. The report said an ECOMOG officer claimed that its troops had been "trying to destroy the base for the past three months.
ECOMOG has continued to face resistance from forces loyal to the toppled military regime in several parts of the country.
Government rejects RUF ultimatum
Meanwhile, Sierra Leone's civilian government this week rejected an RUF ultimatum for the release of its gaoled leader, Foday Sankoh, media reports said.
Humanitarian sources in the capital, Freetown, told IRIN on Tuesday that the BBC had quoted RUF spokesman Eldred Collins at the weekend as saying that the government must release Sankoh "within seven days" or it would attack Nigerians, Guineans and "other foreigners" linked to ECOMOG. He reportedly called the offensive "Operation Spare No Soul".
But Reuters quoted government spokesman Septimus Kaikai as saying the RUF was not in a position to dictate its terms, and that Sankoh would stay in gaol. Kaikai also said the government had more than enough evidence to charge Sankoh with war crimes. "He will not be released until he has gone through the due process of law," Kaikai said.
In July, the RUF leader was extradited to the capital, Freetown, from Nigeria, where he had been held for over a year on possession of firearms charges. Sankoh's RUF, which took up arms against a previous military government in 1991, however rallied to a second military junta, which toppled President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's elected government in a May 1997 coup.
UN Secretary-General concerned by situation
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he remained "deeply concerned" about civilians caught in the fighting in Sierra Leone despite a relative improvement in the security situation.
In a report to the UN Security Council last Friday, Annan said that since the end of June the military and security situation in Sierra Leone had "improved somewhat as reports of atrocities committed by elements of the former junta had markedly declined".
Annan said that the disarmament, demobilisation and reintegration plan adopted by the government represented "the best hope in the immediate future for consolidating the stability of the country". An estimated total of 33,000 former combatants are to be demobilised between 1998 and 2001 in an operation expected to cost US$ 33.6 million.
NIGERIA: Abubakar visits Lagos
The Nigerian leader, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, travelled to the commercial capital, Lagos, this week, marking the first such visit to the southern opposition stronghold by a military leader in nearly five years.
In what media reports described as a groundbreaking tour, Reuters said Abubakar focused his attention on convincing military personnel to support the need for presidential elections in May next year as part of the promised transition to democracy.
Nigerian television quoted Abubakar as advising officers and men of the armed forces and the police that they should "revert to their traditional role of defending the sovereignty of the country". He said the military had to be prepared to subordinate itself to civil authorities under a democratic setting.
Thousands of civilians also turned out to greet him at Lagos airport as he shuttled between bases in the south of the country, Reuters said.
Abubakar meets Abiola family
Abubakar, who also visited Ibadan, another southern opposition stronghold, and Enugu, also paid a condolence call on the family of the late opposition leader, Moshood Abiola, news organisations reported on Tuesday. He spent 25 minutes with the Abiola family in their home in Lagos. Abiola's eldest son, Kola Abiola, told the Nigerian daily, 'The Guardian', that the "entire family" had been moved by Abubakar's visit.
Abiola, the presumed winner of the annulled 1993 presidential elections, died in detention on 7 July on the eve of his release. His family said Abubakar used the occasion of his visit to announce that a four-year ban on government contracts with businesses linked to the Abiolas had been lifted.
New clashes in southwest
At least 14 people, including two pregnant women and a five-month-old baby, have been killed in southwest Nigeria's Ife region, media reports said on Thursday. Reuters quoted 'The Daily Times' as saying they were killed by unknown assailants in Ogudu village on Tuesday. One of the victims was reportedly beheaded. Another local paper reported five others had been killed on Monday and six on Thursday in similar clashes.
According to media reports, scores of people have been killed over the past two years in a feud between rival communities in Ife and Modakeke following local boundry changes.
Military admits to past "diversions" of oil
The Nigerian military government acknowledged last Friday that much of the oil intended for the country's fuel-starved domestic market had been "diverted" in the past and vowed to use security agencies to ensure effective distribution.
AFP quoted Major-General John Inienger, a Provisional Ruling Council (PRC) member, as telling a news conference: "We have discovered that there has been a lot of diversion. We will involve security agencies to ensure that there is effective distribution of petroleum."
Reuters reported that the chronic fuel shortages in Nigeria, which is the sixth largest oil exporter in the world, had become a blatant symbol for Nigerians of military misrule.
GUINEA BISSAU: Peace talks scheduled for 25 August
Guinea Bissau's government and army rebels agreed at separate meetings the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) in Cape Verde during the week to continue to respect a ceasefire negotiated last month, news agencies reported.
The crisis started on 7 June, when President Joao Bernardo Vieira sacked General Ansumane Mane as his armed forces chief of staff following accusations that senior army officers were smuggling arms to separatists in neighbouring Senegal's southern province of Casamance. As an army revolt led by Mane gathered momentum, Senegal and Guinea sent 3,000 troops to help Vieira quell the Mane rebellion.
Officials of the CPLP and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) said both sides had agreed to joint mediation by the two bodies.
Portuguese Foreign Minister Jaime Gama announced after a meeting on Wednesday with Senegalese President Abdou Diouf that both mediation teams had scheduled a meeting for 25 August at which the two warring sides would be represented.
Diplomatic tensions
However, the Portuguese news agency, Lusa, quoted Gama as adding that the CPLP "could be more useful" in finding an internal solution to the conflict in Guinea Bissau, while ECOWAS would be "better suited to a regional solution to the crisis". Earlier in the week, news reports said progress on finding a diplomatic solution to Guinea Bissau's two month civil war had been hampered by apparent rivalry between CPLP and ECOWAS.
But Gama stressed that Portugal was not seeking a "leading role or hegemony" in the peace process in Guinea Bissau. Guinea Bissau's acting foreign minister, Joao Cardoso, quoted by Portuguese RDP radio, also reaffirmed that only a common effort between both mediation teams would "guarantee that lasting peace would be attained" in Guinea Bissau.
An estimated 350,000 people fled their homes as a result of the fighting, according to UN figures.
WFP distributes food aid
WFP began distributing three months' food supplies this week in two rural areas of Guinea Bissau in the north and northeast of the country, an agency spokesman told IRIN on Tuesday. He said the food was being distributed to some 39,000 people in Gabu and Oio regions. WFP said although the food situation in Guinea Bissau was not critical, the effect of the civil war meant people had no money to buy supplies.
SENEGAL: Government begins to explain Guinea Bissau intervention
The Senegalese government this week said that its troops would remain in neighbouring Guinea Bissau for the foreseeable future as the vanguard of an eventual West African ECOMOG peacekeeping mission.
The announcement, accompanied by statements published by the official press and in parliamentary responses, explained some of the motives behind its decision to intervene, but stopped short of giving precise figures on casualties or the cost of the operation, diplomats told IRIN.
In a no-confidence debate brought by the opposition, which the government easily defeated, Prime Minister Mamadou Lamine Loum said on Monday a force of 2,300 men were currently deployed in Guinea Bissau, where they had prevented a coup d'etat and thus succeeded in the main aim of their mission.
"We will not repatriate them," he told the National Assembly. They would in fact constitute part of the ECOMOG contingent due to deploy in the country, he added.
TOGO: Key opposition leader denies knowledge of incursion
The Togolese opposition leader, Gilchrist Olympio, denied early knowledge of an alleged armed incursion into Togo from Ghana at the weekend, news agencies said on Monday.
Six people were reportedly arrested after unidentified gunmen opened fire from Ghana on a border post in neighbouring Togo. News organisations reported that the army chiefs of both countries quickly called a joint operation to stop the incident and further compromise what AFP called "years of mutual distrust" between the two countries.
PANA quoted Olympio as saying: "I know nothing about it. It will be a stupid thing to attempt to cause armed violence at this time when we are pursuing a genuine and just course towards democracy."
Olympio, leader of the Union des forces pour le changement (UFC), which contested the re-election of Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema in June, described the incident as stage-managed by the Togolese government in a bid to clamp down on political activity. Recalling that European Union monitors had questioned the conduct of the presidential election, Olympio added that the situation in Togo required a negotiated settlement between the Togolese leaders, the opposition and the international community.
Meanwhile, Radio France Internationale reported two explosions in northern Togo on Monday. The first blast was at the house of an official of the opposition Parti pour la democratie et le renouveau (PDR), while the second explosion damaged the PDR's regional office in the northern town of Sokode.
Government resigns
Togo's Prime Minister, Kwassi Klutse, this week submitted his government's resignation to Eyadema, media reports said. The BBC said that a statement from the president's office said he had accepted the resignations and that consultations were under way to form a new government soon.
LIBERIA: Minister sentenced for contempt of judiciary
Liberia's Supreme Court sentenced the deputy information minister, Milton Teahjay, to five days' gaol for criminal contempt, media reports said on Tuesday. According to the independent Monrovia-based Star Radio, Teahjay reportedly described the judiciary as "rotten" during a talk show on the Catholic station, Radio Veritas.
The court also fined Solicitor General Theophilus Gould the equivalent of US$ 125 for representing Teahjay, it said. The court reportedly ruled Gould's assignment as state prosecutor was a "conflict of interest" at the same time, rejecting his application to withdraw from the proceedings.
NIGER: Prime minister appeals for aid
Niger's prime minister, Ibrahim Assan Maiyaki, this week appealed for international assistance to help flood-stricken parts of the country, AFP reported.
The news agency quoted Maiyaki as telling a meeting of diplomats and heads of international agencies in the capital, Niamey, that his government was "profoundly concerned" at the damage wrought by the July floods, which reportedly killed five people and destroyed over 6,000 homes.
For his part, Niger's finance minister, Yacouba Nabassoua, added likely government expenditure on repairing infrastructure could jeopardise Niger's current round of financial reform. The government estimated some CFA 1.5 billion (FFr 15 million) would be required just to repair the damage to Niger's road system, AFP reported.
Parts of Niamey have been without water for nearly two weeks because of extensive damage to the piping system, news reports added.
Abidjan, 21 August, 1998
[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-weekly]
Date: Fri, 21 Aug 1998 18:37:02 +0000 (GMT) Subject: IRIN-West Africa Weekly Roundup 62, 98.08.21 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980821183540.30259C-D
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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