IRIN-West Africa Update 377 for 1999.01.11

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IRIN-WA Update 377 of Events in West Africa (Monday 11 January)

SIERRA LEONE: Fires rage in Freetown's Eastend

Fires raged in Freetown's Eastend today (Monday) as rebels began to flee from advancing West African intervention force (ECOMOG) troops, AFP reported, quoting evacuees from the war-torn city.

Witnesses told the agency the fires had been started by rebels who torched warehouses in the Kissy dockyards area. The rebels, from the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) and their Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) allies, last week threatened to set fire to the city if ECOMOG reinforcements arrived to challenge their presence.

"The rebels burn, pillage and kill as they go through," ECOMOG commander General Timothy Shelpidi told AFP. He said the rebels used civilians as human shields.

He said another 500 Nigerian troops had been flown in at the weekend and that his men had cleared the port and seat of government of rebels. He said his troops had pushed the rebels southeast towards Kissy, Wellington and Calaba Town. Kissy is an Eastend suburb, and Wellington and Calaba a further five km to the south.

Diplomatic efforts to end fighting

The Foreign Ministers of Togo and Cote d'Ivoire, Joseph Koffigoh and Amara Essy, arrived at Freetown's Lungi International Airport today to meet Sierra Leonean President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and RUF commander Sam Bockarie.

AFP reported that the ministers hoped to convince Bockarie that detained rebel leader Foday Sankoh had ordered a ceasefire after meeting Kabbah on Wednesday. Bockarie rejected the appeal saying he will only stop fighting if he receives his orders from Sankoh in person and only on neutral ground.

Liberian President Charles Taylor has called for an emergency meeting of ECOWAS leaders on Sierra Leone, the independent Star Radio reported on Saturday. It said a four-man Liberian delegation led by Vice President Enoch Dogolea was to brief ECOWAS leaders.

ECOWAS Executive Secretary Lansana Kouyate is expected in Lome tomorrow (Tuesday) for emergency talks on Sierra Leone with Togolese President Gnassingbe Eyadema, Reuters said. Togo is the current ECOWAS president.

Taylor concerned about influx of refugees

Taylor has also expressed concern about the influx of refugees from Sierra Leone. He told a delegation from the UNHCR he did not understand why several thousand Sierra Leonean refugees would find Liberia a safe haven while Liberian citizens sought refuge outside their country, the radio said. There are an estimated 130,000 Sierra Leonean refugees in Liberia, Star Radio said.

Amnesty International calls for protection of asylum seekers

Amnesty International has called on Guinea to stop turning back Sierra Leonean refugees. Amnesty said on Wednesday that 200 refugees who arrived by boat were rejected by Guinean authorities. It called on all states to allow Sierra Leonean refugees entry.

Secretary-General recommends two-month extension for UNOMSIL

UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended a two-month extension of the UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL), the world body said in a report dated 7 January. In the report to the Security Council, Annan said UNOMSIL could help set up talks between the government and the rebels. In addition, Annan said, UNOMSIL could help restart the programme to disarm, demobilise and reintegrate the rebels into society, support the rebuilding of a new national army and reform the national police. Annan added that UNOMSIL could also continue to monitor the human rights situation in the country.

Annan said he deplored the recent upsurge in fighting and rebel attacks on Freetown. He said the rebels would not gain any recognition even if they made military gains. He called on them to discuss any legitimate demands or grievances in talks with the government.

Humanitarian situation

In his report, the Secretary-General said that due to recent developments, Sierra Leone might soon be facing "a humanitarian crisis of major proportions." Overland access to the interior has been cut and the capacity to provide humanitarian assistance has been sharply reduced with the relocation outside the country of most UN and other aid agency expatriate staff. Annan said rebel advances had been preceded by the displacement of large numbers of civilians fleeing violence.

Up to 40,000 internally displaced persons were concentrated in Makeni prior to the attack on that city, and 12,000 displaced and Liberian refugees in a camp at Waterloo were forced to flee to Freetown as a result of rebel attacks, the report said. While some of these people may have now returned to the camp, lack of access prevents humanitarian agencies from assessing their situation and distributing assistance. Continued violence also raised the prospect of refugee flows to neighbouring countries, the report added.

Mob revenge attacks discouraged

While much of the ECOMOG activities around Freetown was militarily justified, UNOMSIL has received complaints of assault, harassment and unnecessary detention, primarily of young men, the Secretary-General said in his report, a copy of which was received by IRIN. Members of the pro-government CDF have been accused of summarily killing one person during a house raid on 26 December, the report said. Two men suspected of being rebels were killed by a crowd of people in Freetown the same day, the report said, adding that there was no indication the victims had harboured any sympathies for the rebels. The government subsequently broadcast a message calling on people to desist from revenge attacks, it said.

The report added that recent rebel attacks in the east and west had involved the killing of civilians, the destruction of homes and abductions, with women and children deliberately targeted.

NIGERIA: PDP ahead in state-level elections

The centre-left Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) won 20 out of 35 states in Saturday's gubernatorial elections, which were largely orderly and peaceful, news agencies said. Citing partial results announced by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), AFP said the centre-right All Peoples Party (APP) won the governors' posts in nine states while six governorships were won by the third participating party, the radical Alliance for Democracy (AD). AFP said the PDP was leading in most northern and eastern areas with the APP making some gains in the north and the AD dominating in the Yoruba southwest. Voting in one state, Bayelsa, did not take place because of recent unrest over control of local oil resources. The PDP was also reported to be leading in state assembly elections, AFP added. Legislative and presidential elections are due in February.

Orderly and mainly trouble-free voting reported

Commonwealth Secretary-General Emeka Anyaoku, in a statement quoted by AFP today, said Saturday's elections marked "another important step" in the country's transition to democracy. Anyaoku expressed satisfaction with the elections, saying they were "on the whole orderly and successfully organised". A 17-member team from the Commonwealth secretariat was sent to Nigeria last week to monitor the electoral process.

News agencies said voting at some 100,000 polling stations in the country was generally well-organised although some tension and disturbances were reported in the troubled Niger Delta region. Four men were arrested at a polling station in Port Harcourt, AFP said. One death related to polling day violence was reported in the country, compared to at least 10 reported during the 5 December local government elections, Reuters said. AFP said the turnout, which had been forecast at 30 million people, was reported to be "impressive" in most areas of the country. Voters at some polling centres were allowed to stay after they had cast their ballots to watch votes being counted as part of an anti-fraud measure, BBC said.

MAURITANIA: Mauritanians killed in Brazzaville fighting

Some 180 Mauritanians arrived in the capital Nouakchott on Saturday after fleeing insecurity in Congo-Brazzaville, PANA said. The returnees had been detained by Ninja militiamen allied to former Congolese Prime Minister Bernard Kolelas after fighting between the militia and government forces began in southern Brazzaville on 18 December. A total of 12 Mauritanians have been killed in the violence, it added. Quoting sources, PANA said there are about 3,000 Mauritanian nationals in the Congo, mainly traders, and that most of them had lost their property in the latest violence. The 180 people had fled Brazzaville aboard an aircraft chartered by a Mauritanian businessman, it added.

GUINEA: Rights committee to review situation of Guinean children

Independent human rights experts begin a three-week session today in Geneva during which they will examine the situation of child's rights in Guinea. A UN press release received by IRIN said that the 20th session of the Committee on the Rights of the Child will take up the issue of Guinea on 19-20 January. Countries that ratify the Convention on the Rights of the Child are obliged to present periodical reports to the 10-member committee to defend their actions towards children and detail how they arbegan in southern Brazzaville on 18 December. A total of 12uinea, the committee will also discuss reports submitted by Yemen, Austria, Sweden and Belize during its current session, the release said.

High child mortality and malnutrition

In its initial report to the Committee on the Rights of the Child, a copy of which was received today by IRIN, Guinea said the government had "harnessed itself to action to improve the situation of children". In spite of several obstacles, encouraging results had been achieved, it said. The government had focused its efforts in the health and education sectors with programmes targeting women and children. The 44-page report noted, however, that the country had very high rates of infant and child mortality and that malnutrition among children was a major problem. Economic hardship was leading girls into prostitution while consumption of drugs had become a serious problem for young people in urban areas. "One of the fundamental features of the situation of young children in Guinea is the scale of the needs in the face of the scarce resources available," the report added.

GUINEA BISSAU: Formation of new government delayed again

Uncertainty still shrouds the formation of a government of national unity in Guinea Bissau because one of President Joao Bernardo Vieira's appointees to the cabinet has still not agreed to join, news reports said today.

The Portuguese news agency, Lusa, reported that Vieira and Prime Minister designate Francisco Fadul were to meet today to finalise the composition of the government. Fadul, speaking on the Lisbon-based RDP Antena 1 radio yesterday (Sunday), said that Vieira told him some presidential appointees were not available to serve. No reason was given for their refusal.

Vieira had appointed five ministers and three junior ministers and the Junta four ministers and four junior ministers, Reuters reported yesterday, quoting a Western diplomat in Bissau. Reuters said the junta appointed Francisco Benante as defence minister and Aboubakjar Dahaba as the minister of economy and finance. Vieira named a woman, Ilia Barber, as foreign minister, it said.

LIBERIA: WFP, Education Ministry sign deal on school feeding programme

The United Nations World Food Programme and the Ministry of Education have signed an agreement with the Liberian Ministry of Education to strengthen the ministry's school feeding programme, a WFP official told IRIN today.

Commenting on a report today by Liberia's independent Star Radio, the official said WFP had already rehabilitated the offices of the ministry's school feeding division and provided a vehicle, computers, communications sets and stationery. WFP Country Director Arnt Breivik puts the total cost of the project at US $80,000, Star Radio said. He said the facilities would enable the division to collect vital statistics on the programme. The data, he said, would help the division cater for the needy students.

BURKINA FASO: Prime minister resigns

Burkina Faso Prime Minister Kadre Ouedraogo has resigned, along with his government, followjng the inauguration of President Blaise Compaore for another seven-year term, PANA reported at the weekend. The resignations followed Campaore's re-election on 15 November. Campaore is expected to appoint a new prime minister to implement the "solidarity development" programme promised during his campaign tour, PANA said. It did not say what this programme entailed. The current government will take charge of day-to-day matters until a new one is formed, the agency said.

Thousands demonstrate over journalist's death

About 3,000 people marched through the Burkina Faso capital, Ouagadougou, at the weekend in protest over the death of Norbert Zongo, the editor of the local weekly, 'L'independent,' and three of his colleagues, news reports said today.

Political opponents of President Blaise Campaore and members of human rights organisations in Bobo Dioulasso, the country's second city, also joined Saturday's rally. AFP reported that police stayed at a discrete distance while a helicopter hovered over the march.

Zongo, 49, was found dead in a burnt-out car in December on a deserted road 100 km south of Ouagadougou. The opposition has called his death foul play.

Government changes composition of Zongo commission

In a related development, the government decreed changes to the composition of the independent commission of inquiry it set up to investigate Zongo's death. The change gives greater representation to non-government bodies on the 14-member commission, reducing from two to one the number of justice ministry officials, PANA reported. Representatives of the victims' families will now have three places rather than one, news reports say. Representatives of human rights movements now get three rather than two places on the commission and international human rights organs and the Association of Journalists five rather than three places. PANA reported that the commission had been given five rather than eight months to complete its work. The changes reflect public demands for the truth into Zongo's death and those of his colleagues.

Collective opposition refuses to take part in commission

The "Collective of Mass Organisations and Political Parties" said on Saturday it would only take part in the commission if what it called a state of seige was lifted, detainees released and sanctions lifted on those who took part in an anti-government strike last week. Zongo's death has promoted a wave of anti-government demonstrations in the country and protests by international human rights bodies and media organisations.

The collective groups journalists' associations, lawyers, defenders of human rights, some political parties and grassroots organisations.

BENIN: IMF approves US $14 million loan

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) has approved a US $14 million loan for Benin and expects average real growth of 5.5 percent of gross domestic product over the coming years, an IMF statement said today.

The IMF said the government planned new efforts to restructure its economy, privatising firms and reforming the operation of the civil service. Some 18 percent of tax revenue would go toward debt servicing. "Benin has made considerable progress in stabilising the economy and reducing financial imbalances," the statement said. "However the situation remains fragile and vulnerable to changes in the regional and international environment."

The low-interest loan, issued under the IMF's concessionary lending programme for poor states, is the second part of a three-year lending programme for the West African country.

The text of the IMF statement has been issued on the IRIN-West Africa Extra service. The same text with the addition of a table of Benin's main economic indicators can be found on the IMF website at www.imf.org/external/index.htm

CHAD: Economy grew seven percent in 1998, government says

Chad's economy grew by seven percent in 1998, helped by good rains which pushed up food production, according to a bulletin published by the presidency's economic service. It gave no comparative figure for 1997 growth, Reuters reported today. The Bank of France's Franc Zone secretariat has estimated Chad's 1997 economic growth at 6.5 percent, it said

"Gross domestic product growth in 1998 was seven percent in volume terms, mainly thanks to exceptional levels of rain which led to an increase of about 25 percent in the production of foodstuffs,'' the presidency bulletin said.

The bulletin noted a clear improvement in state revenues, the payment of civil service salaries and control over government expenditure since Chad signed structural adjustment agreements with the IMF and the World Bank in 1994.

Abidjan, 11 January 1999, 18:30 GMT

[ENDS]

Date: Mon, 11 Jan 1999 19:10:46 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 377 for 1999.01.11

Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar

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