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IRIN-WA Update 376 of Events in West Africa (Friday 8 January)
SIERRA LEONE: ECOMOG retakes most of central Freetown
Humanitarian sources still in the Sierra Leone capital, Freetown, said today (Friday) that the West African intervention force, ECOMOG, had retaken most of the positions held by the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) rebels in the centre of the city.
A humanitarian official in Abidjan, who had been in touch with colleagues in Freetown, told IRIN that ECOMOG had retaken Wilberforce, Aberdeen and Lumley Beach and were mopping up in Brookfields where the United Nations Military Observer Mission for Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) is located. Earlier press reports said that ECOMOG had also retaken Pademba Road Prison and State House.
A humanitarian source in the besieged city said the rebels forced people from their homes and gave them white handkerchiefs to wave in a show of pro-rebel support. Some children who refused to comply were shot, the source said.
UNICEF registers 30,000 new IDPs
UNICEF has registered 30,000 new Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) this week in the Sierra Leonean towns of Kambia, Bo and Kenema, a spokesman for the agency said today at a news conference in Geneva. This includes thousands of children under five years old. The spokesman said UNICEF national staff were also providing emergency health care to the displaced and needy local populations in these towns.
However, the agency's activities in Freetown had been suspended due to the fighting in the city, the spokesman said. UNICEF, he added, was also distributing blankets, clothes and shelter materials and was providing chlorine for purifying water supplies.
The spokesman said UNICEF hoped the ceasefire announced yesterday signalled the beginning of the end of the conflict, which had caused "particular misery to children" who have been forced into armed combat or subjected to atrocities.
UN Security Council condemns rebel supporters
The UN Security Council has urged its Sanctions Committee on Sierra Leone to investigate violations of an existing arms embargo and recommend appropriate action, Council President Celso Amorim of Brazil said. In a statement read on behalf of the Council, Amorim said it "strongly condemned" all those supporting the rebels with arms and mercenaries, particularly the aid coming "from the territory of Liberia".
In a letter written on Monday to the Council president, delivered by Liberia's representative at the UN, Liberian President Charles Taylor denied his government's involvement in supporting the rebels. He called on the UN to place observers at the Liberian-Sierra Leonean border to monitor the implementation of the UN embargo.
The Council said it would continue to monitor the situation in Sierra Leone closely. It urged international bodies to provide humanitarian aid and called on all parties to the conflict to allow humanitarian aid workers access to the needy. In addition, the Council asked states to provide, urgently, logistics and other support to ECOMOG so it could perform its duty effectively in the country. It also called for dialogue and national reconciliation as a means to achieving lasting peace in the country.
Vieira de Mello worried about diminishing food stocks
UN Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs Sergio Vieira de Mello said yesterday (Thursday) it would be impossible to replenish depleting food stocks for the needy if the fighting in Sierra Leone and Angola continued. "I am extremely concerned by the current situation," he said in a statement read by UN spokesman Fred Eckhard.
He called on all parties in the conflicts to respect and fully protect civilians, guarantee the safety of humanitarian aid workers and ensure that routes used for humanitarian aid deliveries were secure.
Commonwealth chief meets rebel representatives
In a related development, Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku said on BBC radio he had met and encouraged representatives of the Sierra Leone rebels to support the ceasefire. Anyaoku, speaking from Nigeria, told the BBC that the Commonwealth continued to support the Sierra Leonean government of President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. He added that he hoped the international community would contribute to supporting the ceasefire and "shoring up democracy in Sierra Leone".
GUINEA BISSAU: Junta asks for observers from CPLP states
Guinea Bissau's self-styled Military Junta has proposed that observers from the Community of Portuguese Speaking Countries (CPLP) oversee the Abuja peace accord, because of the delay in deploying the West African interposition force, ECOMOG, a Western diplomat told IRIN today. The official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, described the atmosphere in Bissau as potentially dangerous because Senegalese and Junta forces were facing off not too far from each other.
"There is nervousness in the Junta because of the continued presence of the Senegalese in the country," the diplomat said.
Senegal and Guinea sent troops to support President Joao Bernardo Vieira following an army mutiny in 1998. The Junta, which controls most of the country, has demanded the withdrawal of the Senegalese and Guineans. Their departure and, simultaneously, the deployment of ECOMOG troops is a provision in the Abuja accords signed in November 1998 between the Junta and the beleagued Vieira government. The withdrawal is due to start on 10 January.
But ECOMOG, which is battling rebels in Sierra Leone, has failed to deploy fully in Guinea Bissau. So far, only some 120 Togolese ECOMOG troops have arrived in Bissau to secure the city's airport. Gambia is also supposed to send a company.
NIGERIA: State elections set for tomorrow
Competition within political parties fielding candidates in tomorrow's state-level elections has been intense and occasionally marked by irregularities, news agencies said. "Reports reaching the commission indicated that the primaries were beset by all forms of irregularities, intimidation and in some instances violence," a statement from the secretary of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), quoted by Reuters, said. The INEC statement appealed to politicians not to jeopardise the transition process through their excesses, Reuters said.
The PANA news agency said the Peoples Democratic Party, the All Peoples Party and the Alliance for Democracy have fielded a total of 108 candidates for 36 state governor posts and hundreds of other candidates for the state assembly seats in tomorrow's polls, which represent the second stage of the country's transition to civilian rule.
Government "war" actions condemned
Niger Delta communities have called for international mediation to resolve the civil strife in the oil-producing region, Nigeria's daily `The Guardian' said yesterday. Quoting a statement by the Consultative Assembly of Ijaws, Isokos and Ndokwas, the newspaper said the communities condemned the "unprovoked" killing of Ijaw youths and the "persistent and increasing threat of the use of force" in response to local demands for greater control of the area's resources.
The level of civil strife has increased since the end of December following the passing of an Ijaw deadline for oil companies to cease operations in Bayelsa state and the government's subsequent deployment of additional troops and military equipment to quell the unrest. "The decision of the government of (head of state) General Abdulsalami Abubakar to kill defenceless Ijaw youths amounts to a declaration of war," the statement said.
LIBERIA: Diarrhoea outbreak in Nimba
Results of laboratory tests are expected early next week to try to determine the cause of a bloody diarrhoea outbreak in Nimba county, a WHO official in Abidjan told IRIN yesterday. A team travelled to Nimba this week to investigate the outbreak and collect samples after local authorities reported a recent increase in the number of cases in the area, the official added. Liberia's Star Radio on Wednesday said at least 39 people in the county had died of the disease since June.
GUINEA: Border with Cote d'Ivoire still closed
The land border between Guinea and Cote d'Ivoire remains closed "until further notice", an official at the Guinean embassy in the Ivorian capital Abidjan told IRIN today. However, he said representatives of humanitarian organisations would be allowed to cross if they have official authorisation documents. The border remains closed for security reasons, in particular to prevent the flow of arms into Guinea, he added.
The government sealed its land borders one week before the 14 December presidential elections. Main opposition leader Alpha Conde was arrested on 16 December on charges of attempting to cross the closed Guinean-Ivorian border illegally and of planning a revolt against the state, news agencies have said.
Opposition details "persecution"
Meanwhile, Conde's party the Rassemblement du peuple de Guinee (RPG) said eight people had been killed, 48 injured and 457 arrested since 16 December as part of "political persecution" faced by the opposition, the missionary news agency MISNA reported. RPG said the accusations against Conde were "lies" designed to avoid addressing charges of election irregularities. Incumbent President Lansana Conte won the elections.
Abidjan, 8 January 1999, 17:30 GMT
[ENDS]
Date: Fri, 8 Jan 1999 18:05:17 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 376 for 1999.01.08
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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