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IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup of Main Events 60 for West Africa covering the period (Friday-Thursday) 31 July - 07 August 1998
GUINEA BISSAU: ECOWAS tackles the crisis
West African foreign ministers this week agreed to travel to Guinea Bissau to meet President Joao Bernardo Vieira and the leaders of a military rebellion in the latest bid to find a peaceful resolution to the conflict, news organisations reported.
Foreign ministers and senior officials from Cote d'Ivoire, the Gambia, Ghana, Guinea and Senegal, Burkina Faso, and Nigeria, met in Accra, Ghana, this week in the latest initiative of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS). They said they would propose a plan of action, which would provide "a final solution" to the conflict, which started on 7 June when Vieira sacked his armed forces chief of staff, General Ansumane Mane.
The ECOWAS ministers also reaffirmed their support for Guinea and Senegal which sent troops to back pro-government forces in Guinea Bissau.
In a statement after the meeting, a Guinea Bissau government spokesman said the crisis required a regional solution and ECOWAS had to play a key role in the conflict resolution process. Meanwhile he welcomed the mediation efforts of the Community of Portuguese-Speaking Countries (CPLP) which resulted in a ceasefire on 28 July.
With the ceasefire still holding, both sides were due to meet later this week on a Portuguese warship.
National assembly meeting postponed
However, a meeting of the national assembly of Guinea Bissau was postponed on Tuesday because several members of parliament had refused to travel to the capital, Bissau, citing security concerns, AFP reported. The speaker of the national assembly, Malam Bacai Sanha, called the meeting to try and find a peaceful resolution to the mutiny and also because he felt a resumption of institutional activity in the country was important.
AFP said a number of deputies, including Koumba Yalla, president of the opposition Social Renovation Party, had asked for security guarantees before travelling from the interior of the country to Bissau. A date for the meeting was still to be scheduled.
Humanitarian aid
On Tuesday, the UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, Sergio Vieira de Mello, said there were now an estimated 350,000 internally displaced persons in Guinea Bissau, a large majority of whom were in the town of Bafata, 125 km north of Bissau.
Vieira de Mello said in a statement that over 500 mt of food aid had been sent from Senegal and Guinea (Conakry) to Bafata for onward distribution, while the Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) delivered 54 mt of agricultural supplies to assist farmers. Meanwhile, 500 mt of food stored in Bissau city before the outbreak of the mutiny had been distributed to hospitals, vulnerable groups and internally displaced persons.
The UN has appealed for US$ 29 million to support humanitarian relief efforts in Guinea Bissau, and so far, only the Government of Sweden has responded with a US $ 3 million pledge.
NIGERIA: New cabinet discussed
Nigeria's top military body, the Provisional Ruling Council (PRC), this week discussed nominations for a new cabinet and a new election commission, news reports said.
Last month, Nigeria's new military ruler, General Abdulsalam Abubakar, sacked the cabinet appointed by his hardliner predecessor, General Sani Abacha. Abubakar also promised presidential elections for May next year as the culmination of the pledged transition to democracy. Although a number of opposition groups have met to discuss establishing new political parties, no opposition leader has yet offered to participate in a transitional government.
Government to seize Abacha properties
Meanwhile, Nigerian military authorities said this week that they planned to seize government buildings acquired "illegally" by Abacha and his entourage, AFP reported. Quoting the independent daily 'The Vanguard', it said real estate property located mainly in Lagos and the capital, Abuja, had been sold at "ridiculously low prices" to Abacha's family and friends. It added that Abacha's widow had been turned back at the airport twice recently when she attempted to travel abroad.
No official figures are available on the scale of corruption under Abacha, but it reportedly ran into hundreds of millions of dollars, AFP said.
Five feared dead in communal clash
Five people were feared dead after renewed fighting this week between two feuding communities in Nigeria's southwestern Osun state, AFP reported on Thursday.
It quoted the 'Nigeria Tribune' as saying some 10 people were also injured in clashes on Tuesday night and Wednesday between Ife and Modakeke townships, which abated on Wednesday. Although the cause of the fighting was not immediately known, previous outbreaks of similar violence have been attributed to a dispute over which of the two communities would be the seat of local government.
SIERRA LEONE: ECOMOG commander appeals for support
The commander of the Nigerian-led West African intervention force, ECOMOG, has appealed for greater international support to defeat Sierra Leone's ousted military junta, PANA reported on Sunday.
Speaking in an interview in New York where he had been attending a UN-sponsored conference on Sierra Leone, Major General Timothy Shelpidi said ECOMOG needed more logistic support and troops to crush the remnants of the former Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and its allies from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF).
But Shelpidi said he was optimistic that donor governments would soon allocate the resources he needed. "The international community is very sympathetic," PANA quoted him as saying.
ECOMOG reinforcements sent to north
Meanwhile, ECOMOG's field commander in Sierra Leone said he had sent additional troops to the northern town of Kabala this week after rebels there opened fire on peacekeepers while pretending to surrender. Brigadier-General Maxwell Khobe has declined to give any casualty figures in the incident on Monday described as a "major" clash, news reports said.
AFP said some 30 civilians, three ECOMOG soldiers and an unspecified number of rebels were killed in the Kabala clash. But Brigadier-General Subsash Joshi of the UN Military Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) told IRIN on Tuesday that a team of military observers had visited Kabala on Monday, but had not been able to determine the number of casualties.
More rebels surrender
Joshi also told IRIN that 39 rebels and 86 camp followers had surrendered to ECOMOG in the eastern town of Kenema. He said it was the first time such a large number of rebels had surrendered to ECOMOG.
President, Alhaji Ahmed Tejan Kabbah of Sierra Leone has extended a presidential amnesty pardoning rebels if they laid down their arms by the end of this week. In an effort to promote reconciliation, Kabbah granted amnesty to all rebels who surrendered.
Guinea deports 77 AFRC supporters
Guinea has deported some 77 suspected AFRC supporters, AFP reported on Wednesday. AFP said most of the 51 soldiers and 26 civilians had turned themselves in to the Guinean authorities after fleeing across the border when troops from ECOMOG ousted the AFRC from the capital, Freetown, in February. Guinea reportedly handed the group over to ECOMOG at the border town of Pamelap.
LIBERIA: Defence minister accuses Guinea
Liberia's defence minister, Daniel Chea, has accused neighbouring Guinea of plotting to overthrow President Charles Taylor's government, AFP reported on Monday. It said several independent papers in the capital, Monrovia, quoted Chea as saying Liberian security agents had confirmed "reports from Guinea" that some 800 individuals were being trained to infiltrate Liberia and topple the government.
Chea said the force planned to use the cover of ECOMOG to enter the country. But Chea reportedly vowed: "There will be no additional ECOMOG troops, especially from Guinea. Anything to the contrary will be met by force."
Media reports said relations between Guinea and Liberia have been strained ever since forces from Taylor's NPFL killed a number of Guinean traders they said supported the rival United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO) during the civil war.In June, Taylor also failed to appear at a mini-summit called by President Lansana Conte in Guinea's capital, Conakry, citing domestic security concerns.
But humanitarian sources in Monrovia told IRIN this week they believed the Liberia government's quarrel included all ECOMOG. According to one source, Chea had earlier said that Liberia no longer needed ECOMOG now the civil war was over. However, the source believed Liberians had seen little or no improvement in security.
"What the government really wants is a free hand to do as it pleases without the regional watchdog interfering," he said. "Talk of invasion plots is designed to popularise this position," he added.
SENEGAL: Rebel attack kills three
An attack by separatist rebels in Senegal's southern province of Casamance has killed three civilians, AFP reported on Friday. The news agency quoted Senegalese officials as saying several rebels were also killed and at least a dozen people injured last week when up to 50 armed men attacked a bush taxi travelling between the provincial capital, Ziguinchor, and Kolda to the east.
A Senegalese security patrol, which chanced on the scene, reportedly killed several rebels in the ensuing shoot-out. AFP said it was the first attack by the Mouvement des Forces Separatistes de Casamance (MFDC) since the start of the Guinea Bissau conflict. The MFDC was believed to have suspended activities in Casamance to support Mane's rebellion.
TOGO: Opposition rejects presidential overture
The main opposition parties in Togo have turned down an offer by President Gnassingbe Eyadema for a role in a new government, AFP reported on Wednesday.
It said the Comite d'Action pour le Renouveau (CAR) led by Yao Agboyibo and the Parti pour la Democratie et le Renouveau (PDR) led by Zarifou Ayeva had called the offer a bid to divert the country's attention from talks in Brussels on the fairness of the presidential election last month.
The European Union has refused to renew a co-operation agreement with Togo that was cancelled in 1993 because of "irregularities" cited by EU observers in the 21 June election, which saw Eyadema return to power. This week, Eyadema dispatched his foreign minister, Kofi Panou, to Brussels to discuss the issue.His visit follows a similar mission recently by the prime minister, Kwassi Klutse.
Both opposition parties suggested a transitional government be appointed to oversee "transparent elections", AFP said. Meanwhile, Gilchrist Olympio, exiled leader of the Union des Forces du Changement (UFC), who claimed victory in the election, was quoted as saying although he was open to discussions, he felt the Eyadema offer "insincere".
NIGER: Ethnic clashes
One man was killed and six people wounded in a clash overnight between minority Tuaregs and ethnic Djermas in Niger's capital Niamey, Reuters reported on Tuesday. It said the Tuaregs were former rebels, who were receiving military training at a Niamey camp under an accord ending fighting between Tuareg separatists and the government army.
Trouble reportedly broke out after the Tuaregs chased an unknown man into an area inhabited by Djermas, Niger's second largest group.Paramilitary police then surrounded the training camp and evacuated all 500 Tuaregs there to safety, Reuters said.
Government and opposition sign accord
Niger's government and 11 opposition parties signed a 10-point accord on key political changes on friday last week aimed at breaking two years of political deadlock between the two sides, AFP reported.
The accord signed in Niamey after three days of talks revised electoral procedures and institutions and also set safeguards for appointing officials to bodies such as the supreme court. Both parties have also agreed that all political groups should have equal access to state media and that the right to demonstrate be respected.
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Malabo reviews links with Spain
Equatorial Guinea's government this week announced that it was reviewing relations with the former colonial power, Spain, AFP reported. Complaining of Spanish attempts to portray a "negative image" of the government, an official told AFP that Equatorial Guinea had been "obliged" to review its development assistance links because of the virtual "war" Spanish 'Radio Exterior' had been waging against Malabo.
According to media reports, Equatorial Guinea's government has repeatedly asked Spain to close down 'Radio Exterior', but Madrid has consistently declined. According to AFP, the station is the only means the outlawed opposition has at its disposal to make its views known.
GHANA: Gaoled editors denied bail
Ghana's court of appeal has dismissed an application for bail filed by two gaoled newspaper editors, media reports said on Wednesday. According to the Canada-based International Freedom of Exchange (IFEX), the court ruled that Haruna Atta, editor of 'The Weekend Statesman', and Kweku Baako, editor of 'The Guide', should stay in prison until their appeal against a contempt of court conviction had been heard.
The Ghanaian Journalists Association (GJA) described the refusal to grant bail as "crushing and likely to intimidate the press". Ghana's First Lady, Nana Rawlings, reportedly brought the case in connection with a libel suit.
Abidjan, 7 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, 7 Aug 1998 16:32:09 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> ubject: IRIN-West Africa Weekly Roundup 60, 98.08.07 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980807162628.17317A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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