IRIN-West Africa Daily Update 176, 98.3.30

UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER

U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa

Tel: +225 21-73-54 Fax: +225 21-63-35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci

IRIN-WA Update 176 of Events in West Africa, (Saturday-Monday) 28-30 March 1998

SIERRA LEONE: ECOMOG advances in east

The West African intervention force in Sierra Leone, ECOMOG, has entered Kono district in the east, AFP reported Monday quoting Kono residents. The witnesses said ECOMOG entered the diamond-rich area after repairing the strategic Sewa bridge to a key highway leading to Kono, where the ousted Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) leader, Johnny Paul Koroma, is believed to be. According to a Reuters report at the weekend, ECOMOG was now moving further east from Daru towards the town of Pendembu. ECOMOG, comprised of troops from Nigeria, Guinea and Niger backed by thousands of Kamajor militia forces, was also preparing for an attack on the diamond town of Koidu, where junta forces had been massing, Reuters added. According to a local doctor who fled Koidu, the situation was a "disaster", the agency said. "There is no food or medicines and people are dying in the streets of hunger and disease, especially cholera."

Speaking to IRIN on Monday, ECOMOG Commander Major-General Timothy Shelpidi confirmed the capture of Daru on 24 March. Kono and Kailahun were the remaining districts holding out to the junta and Revolutionary United Front (RUF). He said ECOMOG forces were advancing, but anticipated logistic problems. Several bridges destroyed by fleeing junta soldiers needed to be repaired. Some of the roads had also been mined, he added.

Shelpidi said it was very difficult to estimate AFRC/RUF numbers, adding there were reports that civilians were being conscripted to boost them. However, he noted some of the retreating forces were surrendering although there were more AFRC than RUF members among those giving themselves up.

Shelpidi also confirmed that ECOMOG was working in close collaboration with the Civil Defence Force made up of Kamajor militia forces loyal to President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. "We control their movements and operations, but it remains a separate force," he added.

Meanwhile, AFP quoting police sources in the north said ECOMOG occupied the northern border towns of Tambaka, Wahidala, Falaba and Wara Wara in Bombala and Koindugu districts near the Guinean border at the weekend.

In northern Kabala, 50 km south of the Guinean border, police sources and Catholic mission officials told Reuters local inhabitants who had fled to Guinea were starting to return to their homes. Many were reportedly suffering from malnutrition and some 20 children had died from snake and scorpion bites. Shelpidi confirmed that Kabala had been liberated some three weeks ago.

Journalist released

Sorie Fofanah, editor of the pro-democracy 'Vision' newspaper, was released from jail on Friday, a day after his arrest, AFP reported. Press sources quoted by AFP said the arrest might have been linked to the paper's recent report that presidential security chief Sheka Mansaray had refused to be searched at a police checkpoint outside Freetown.

Chief Justice sacked

Kabbah, on Sunday, sacked Chief Justice S. Beccles Davies, who swore in the AFRC leader following last year's coup, news agencies reported, quoting state radio. Veteran politician and lawyer Desmond Luke was nominated subject to ratification by parliament. The presidency also announced the appointment of Sanpha Koroma as the new governor of the Central Bank to replace Christian Kargbo, a junta appointee now in prison with other suspected collaborators.

Schools, banks re-open

Schools and two major commercial banks resumed operations on Monday, just three weeks after the restoration of Sierra Leone's democratically elected government, news organisations reported. Hundreds of students and customers queued at the re-opened institutions.

Although schools have re-opened, the education system faces a lack of resources, understaffing, outstanding back pay for teachers and the need to replace essential infrastructure looted or destroyed by retreating junta soldiers, the head of the teachers' union, Alpha Timbo warned. Universities and other higher education institutions are expected to resume classes next month. In the economic sector, several industries said they would resume activities slowly since their factories had been massively looted.

Foreigners restricted in gold and diamond mining

A statement from the President's office on Friday ordered licensed gold and diamond traders to "relocate" to the capital, Freetown, and restricted foreigners in the industry, AFP reported. According to the statement, only naturalised Sierra Leoneans with valid mining licenses, apart from indigenous citizens, would be allowed in mining areas. The statement further warned of tough action against smugglers and "foreigners, who take out citizenship outside the provisions of the law, especially in the last nine months."

LIBERIA: Johnson asked to move

The Liberian government, in a statement issued on Friday, asked Rural Development Minister and former faction leader Roosevelt Johnson to move elsewhere for his own safety, news sources reported. Information Minister Joe Mulbah said there were no plans to "arrest, assassinate or endanger the life of Minister Johnson, as claimed by him", Reuters reported. Johnson last week accused members of the Presidential Guard of attacking his home. Mulbah said the government had asked ECOMOG to provide maximum security for Johnson following his rejection of government protection. It had asked Johnson to move so that residents and business people who fled the area could feel safe to return. Johnson loyalists in the area are reportedly heavily armed. Johnson told Reuters that he was thinking of what action to take but had no intention of moving.

Taylor proud of security forces

In a speech to newly commissioned circuit judges, President Charles Taylor said he was very satisfied with the performance of the country's security forces, independent Star Radio reported on Saturday. He said guns were used to protect democracies, even the most powerful like the US. The remarks were believed to have been made in reference to recent criticism of the country's heavily armed security forces, the radio said. ECOMOG Commander Shelpidi had criticised the Liberian government last weekend for over-arming the security forces and questioned the acquisition of these weapons in light of the continuing UN arms embargo against Liberia.

Senate leader calls for ECOMOG agreement

The President of the Liberian Senate, Charles Brumskine, speaking at a Senate hearing on security, said a "status of force agreement" was necessary to legalise the presence of ECOMOG forces in Liberia, Star Radio reported on Saturday. He noted that ECOMOG's mandate had expired and that the current arrangement between the government and ECOMOG was one of accommodation. In a related issue, a dispatch from the US-based Liberian Contemporary Political Opposition appealed to the US and the European Community to provide funding for ECOMOG, Star Radio reported. The dispatch warned that a premature ECOMOG departure would be dangerous and explosive, opening the country to renewed violence.

An Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) source, meanwhile, told IRIN that ECOWAS had not yet issued an official statement on its position on ECOMOG's continued presence in Liberia. The source said there had been no consensus among ECOWAS leaders attending a recent mini summit of head of states in Lome, Togo, as to whether ECOMOG should remain in Liberia to support the military intervention in Sierra Leone. The cost of maintaining troops in both countries was prohibitive and generally member states favoured an early withdrawal.

NIGERIA: US adviser clarifies position on Abacha

US presidential national security adviser, Sandy Berger, Saturday told journalists that the US would be watching to see if Nigeria "makes a genuine true, credible transition to civilian rule and holds an election that is free and fair," AFP reported. This presupposed the release of political prisoners and access to the media by the opposition, Berger stressed. If these conditions were met, Nigeria's military ruler General Sani Abacha could "theoretically" be elected under conditions acceptable to Washington although, Berger added, such a hypothesis was improbable in practice since the situation so far was "not encouraging". On Friday, Clinton said the US would accept an Abacha candidacy if he were to stand as a civilian.

Clinton's 11-day Africa tour has been blacked out by Nigerian state media, AFP said, quoting a report by the independent 'Guardian' of a national radio directive to ignore it. However, a number of private Nigerian newspapers had provided coverage of Clinton's tour.

Adviser warns of poll disruption "plan"

The special adviser to the Nigerian head of state, Alhaji Wada Nas, said the Nigerian government had uncovered a plan by the "enemies of democracy" to disrupt the forthcoming National Assembly elections, Nigerian state television reported on Saturday. Anti-Nigerian groups, in collaboration with some politicians, were planning to disrupt public peace in the second week of April by distributing "inciting publications" and infiltrating university campuses, he warned. He urged the groups to rethink their actions.

Fuel shortage to continue

Addressing a news conference on Friday, Petroleum Resource Minister Chief Dan Etete warned that Nigeria's two-week old fuel shortage might not ease as soon as expected, AFP reported. He further cautioned that individuals demonstrating over the lack of fuel would be viewed as disturbing public order. Two violent demonstrations in the economic capital, Lagos, last week resulted in increased police security at petrol stations. The government blamed the current crisis on speculators selling fuel on the black market instead of the open market, AFP reported.

Etete said that the crisis had been further compounded by an accident at a fuel depot on the main sea jetty in Lagos, when a ship trying to leave a jetty seriously damaged the main loading jetty and its equipment. On a positive note, Etete announced that two private companies had been issued licences to establish refineries.

CHAD: Libyan oil to the rescue

Libya, on Saturday, promised some 33 million litres of petrol to Chad, whose economy has been paralysed since the beginning of this year by a fuel shortage, news agencies reported. There were no details on the terms of the agreement, which will cover three months' needs. Chad's minister for public works and transport, Ahmat Lamine, told a news conference Chad "is prepared to go and search for fuel anywhere in the world to ensure the functioning of its socio-economic activities", Reuters reported. Nigeria's refinery problems, along with poor transport links to Cameroon, have further aggravated the situation for land-locked Chad, which normally receives 60 percent of its fuel imports from Nigeria.

GUINEA: Shantytown death toll rises

The Guinean government on Saturday said that the death toll in last Monday's clash between security forces and shantytown dwellers in the north of the capital, Conakry, had risen from four to nine, with some 40 injured, AFP reported. Some 30 people, including the main leader of the opposition, Mamadou Ba, and several Muslim religious leaders, had been arrested, AFP added. The residents of Kaporo clashed with police when they refused to relocate so that the area could be rebuilt. Speaking on state television, government spokesman Ibrahima Mongo said the government would press ahead with the demolition of the shantytown. Several tanks and armoured vehicles have been sent to area to protect the workers.

EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Ex-officers in Cameroon protest

Twelve former high-ranking Equatorial Guinean army officers detained in a Cameroon jail for the last six months wrote a letter to the US embassy on Friday to protest against their plight, AFP reported. The twelve, members of the militant opposition in exile, were arrested on 23 September in Olamza province bordering Equatorial Guinea and held by the Cameroonian Groupement special operationnel (GSO), a specialist anti-terrorist unit. According to AFP quoting extracts published in the independent 'The Herald', the officers said they had been granted refugee status upon their arrival four years ago and had been in farming since then. Describing prison conditions as "deplorable", they complained they had not received any visitors since their detention.

Abidjan, 30 March 1998, 20:00 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/emergenc or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to archive@dha.unon.org . Mailing list: irin-wa-updates]

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U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa

Tel: +225 21-73-54 Fax: +225 21-63-35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci

IRIN-WA Update 177 of Events in West Africa, (Tuesday) 31 March 1998

SIERRA LEONE: ECOMOG closing in on eastern rebel town

The West African intervention force, ECOMOG, is poised to take the diamond town of Koidu, in eastern Sierra Leone, where retreating junta forces have been massing, Reuters reported on Monday. An ECOMOG commander was quoted as telling journalists they were giving residents a few days to flee the town. According to the report, thousands of civilians had already fled and were hiding in the surrounding bush, but thousands more were still in the town. Many were weak from lack of food and disease. The fleeing civilians also reported mass killing, looting and destruction in Koidu. Some estimated that junta forces had killed over 300 residents since taking the town in February. The Reuters journalist reported seeing scores of bodies littering the countryside leading to the town. Rebel commanders told local residents last week that they would fight to the last to hold the town, Reuters added.

Trials to begin

Some 20 Sierra Leonean civilians, who served under the toppled Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC), appeared before the courts on Monday, AFP reported. No charges were read and the hearings were adjourned until 6 April. Those appearing included several AFRC ministers: Sports Minister Umaru Deen-Sesay, Development Minister Victor Brandon and Deputy Ministers Hassan Barrie, Dennis Kamara and Mohammed Bangura. Also charged were Gipu Felix George, head of the state broadcasting company, Gibril Massaquoi, spokesman for Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader Foday Sankoh, and arms dealer Steve Bio, who is the brother of former military ruler Brigadier Julius Maada Bio and a Sankoh associate. Although he had fled the country following the coup, Sheku Bayoh, secretary to previous military and civilian heads of state, was charged with requesting and receiving money from the AFRC. Sankoh has been in detention in Nigeria since March 1997.

The authorities are holding some 1,500 people accused of collaborating with the AFRC. In all some 200 are expected to face collaboration charges, AFP reported.

Higher education institutions have also begun their own investigations. The Academic Staff Association of Fourah Bay College, affiliated with the University of Sierra Leone, said it had established a committee to investigate lecturers and administrative staff who accepted AFRC appointments, AFP reported. College principal Victor Strasser-King said six names were currently before the Association.

LIBERIA: Johnson named envoy to India, Taylor denies attack

The Liberian government Tuesday has appointed Rural Development Minister Roosevelt Johnson as ambassador to India, local sources told IRIN, quoting local radio reports. The appointment comes in the wake of Johnson's refusal to comply with a government request on Friday to move his residence to another area of town for his own security. The government's request followed claims by Johnson that members of the Presidential Guard had attacked his compound early last week.

Meanwhile, President Charles Taylor described as "craziness" allegations that the government was planning to attack Johnson, Star radio reported. Speaking at a meeting with citizens from Grand Gedeh at the Executive Mansion on Monday, he said causing trouble in the run-up to the Paris international donor conference scheduled for next week was unthinkable.

New head of reconciliation body

Victoria Reffell has been appointed head of the National Reconciliation Commission. She replaces opposition politician and former faction leader, Alhaji Kromah, who never officially took up his post and said he would not return to Liberia from the US because of threats to his life.

Government to ignore ECOMOG

Taylor also said on Monday his government would ignore future utterances by the West African ECOMOG peacekeeping force which it considered as interference, Star Radio reported. Taylor said Liberia would set its own requirements for assistance to restructure the armed forces to the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) and the international community. He said no one in ECOMOG would dictate to his government. He also pledged that no group or tribe would dominate the national army.

Repatriation from Guinea starts

The first of some 2,000 Liberian refugees who registered for voluntary repatriation returned home from Guinea on Monday, news agencies reported. The arrival of the first group of 400 refugees officially marked the re-opening of the Guinea-Liberia border, which was closed last November following a raid on the Guinean border town of Dieke. A UNHCR official told IRIN that by 27 March only 18,481 of the projected 480,000 refugees had returned to Liberia from Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire with UNHCR assistance.

Meanwhile, more than 2,000 internally displaced people are asking the Liberian government to help resettle them, Star Radio reported on Tuesday. The displaced marched in the streets of Monrovia to demand government assistance. The displaced, mainly from Bomi, Cape Mount and Lower Lofa Counties, have lived in camps outside Monrovia for nearly seven years. Relief food distribution was halted last month the displaced told Star Radio.

Resettlement difficulties

Reports from Lofa County say resettlement problems are escalating into violent clashes, local media reported. A humanitarian source told IRIN that several homes and mosques had been burned to the ground last week in clashes between the Lorma, the largest ethnic group in Lofa, and returning Mandingo refugees. He said the attacks were in retaliation at the brutality of the Mandingo-dominated Kromah wing of the United Liberation Movement for Democracy in Liberia (ULIMO-K) during the civil war.. He warned that "the return of Mandingo refugees could heighten the potential for conflict". According to Star Radio, a government special investigation team was due to leave for Lofa on Wednesday.

NIGERIA: Shell Oil spill

Oil giant Anglo-Dutch Shell, in an official statement Monday, reported an oil spill in one of its fields in Nigeria's southern Delta State, news agencies reported. According to Reuters, quoting a Shell spokesman in Lagos, the leak had been contained but had affected four villages in the Warri area. The unit's 30,000 barrels per day crude production would remain shut until the spill at Jones Creek field had been cleaned up. Damage assessment was under way. The spokesman added Shell was unaware of five other villages, which local papers claimed were also affected by the spill. The oil was reportedly drifting into the Warri River, AFP said, quoting the private 'Guardian' newspaper. The cause of the spill was still being investigated.

In the past, Shell operations have been repeatedly plagued by sabotage from local communities seeking compensation or environmental concession, Reuters said. According to AFP, Shell produces 900,000 barrels per day, around half of Nigeria's total daily production.

GUINEA: More arrests

Guinean judicial officials Monday said that some 60 people, up from 30, had now been arrested following last week's violent clashes between security forces and residents of Kaporo, a northern district of the capital Conakry, news agencies reported. Three deputies of the opposition Union pour la Nouveau Republique (UNR), including UNR leader Mamadou Ba, are among those being detained. The three deputies are charged with complicity in helping "plan and carry out" incidents of a "flagrantly criminal" nature, AFP reported. Their parliamentary immunity was waived by the government last week.

The authorities were convinced of a link between religious extremists and the Kaporo clashes, Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported. Conakry state television carried a warning by government spokesman Ibrahima Mongo Diallo that Guinea was a secular republic and "No-one has the right to use religion as an instrument of violence and social disturbance." In a statement broadcast on state television on Sunday, President Lansana Conte also warned of religious fundamentalism, saying: "We are currently witnessing a proliferation of sects in Guinea, and these sects are often led by foreign countries."

Over 120,000 residents are being forced out of Kaporo to make way for a road project and a government office complex. A local news source said the area was a lower middle class neighbourhood, not a shantytown. The government claimed Kaporo was a non-residential area and homes had been constructed illegally. According to the source, the government infuriated residents when it refused to pay compensation and help relocate them because the development was illegal.

The area was also a UNR stronghold, the source said. Members of the opposition claimed that the neighbourhood had been built with the help of the government and stressed that running water and electricity had been provided. Furthermore, it had elected government officials.

At a press conference on Monday, the opposition called on supporters to refrain from violence. Vendors closed Conakry's largest market on Monday for fear of violence.

Although no official date has been set, presidential elections must be held by December. Conte seized power in 1984 and won 51 percent of the vote in what Reuters described as "turbulent and chaotic" multi-party presidential elections in 1993. Ba took 13 percent of the vote.

CHAD: Opposition gathering cancelled

A meeting by the opposition Rassemblement pour la democratie et le progres (RNDP) to denounce human rights violations in Chad did not take place on Sunday because of a massive police presence, Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported. A local media source told IRIN the meeting was to focus on the killing of civilians, the suspension of human rights groups, and the unwarranted questioning and harassment of politicians by police. The rally was postponed following the arrest of several participants who were subsequent released, according to RFI.

Police beat journalist

Dieudonne Djonabaye, editor and chief of the Chadian weekly 'N'Djamena Hebdo' and RFI correspondent, was arrested on Sunday, Reporters San Frontieres (RSF) and AP reported. AP said he was on his way to an appointment at a French military base, when he was arrested by police and badly beaten. Djonabaye was released 15 hours later. According to RSF, two police officers were suspended for eight days.

AP said the weekly had reported extensively on an attempt to expel the French military attache.

Abidjan, 31 March 1998, 20:00 gmt

[ends]

Date: Mon, 30 Mar 1998 20:40:43 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Daily Update 176, 98.3.30 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.980330202804.29243A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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