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IRIN-WA Update 384 of Events in West Africa (Wednesday 20 January)
SIERRA LEONE: ECOMOG controls port after heavy fighting
The West African intervention force ECOMOG has regained control of Kissy port in the capital, Freetown, but the area remains insecure due to the presence of snipers, news agencies said today (Wednesday). Heavy fighting between ECOMOG and rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) had largely destroyed the Kissy area, which remained deserted today with the exception of looters, Radio France Internationale said this morning. Latest reports from humanitarian sources said that a Nigerian supply ship had been able to dock at the port. They said the reopening of the port would facilitate the delivery of humanitarian supplies to Freetown over the next few days.
Meanwhile, ECOMOG was continuing its offensive southeast of the capital to cut off the rebels from the interior, AFP reported. Telephone service in Freetown has been restored, news agencies said.
British support for aid and ECOMOG
British Foreign Secretary Robin Cook announced yesterday (Tuesday) that his government was releasing another US $1.6 million for humanitarian assistance to the people of Sierra Leone and logistical support for ECOMOG. Cook told parliament yesterday that the situation in the country "remains worrying", a Foreign Office statement said. He said much of Freetown had been destroyed, "many hundreds" of ECOMOG soldiers had been killed in the fighting, and much of the rest of the country remained in rebel hands. He said Britain has been the international community's principal supporter of President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah "and the legitimate government of Sierra Leone", and it had shared intelligence information and maps with ECOMOG. Earlier this month, Britain announced it was donating US $1.6 million to Sierra Leone and ECOMOG.
Meanwhile, the British frigate HMS Norfolk, anchored off the coast of Freetown, left for Guinea to stock up on supplies, AFP said today. The frigate was due to return tomorrow (Thursday), it said.
UN humanitarian mission to start
A senior OCHA official was due to travel to Sierra Leone to take part in a joint one-week humanitarian mission with UNICEF, UN spokesman Fred Eckhard said yesterday. The objective of the mission is to help plan and implement humanitarian assistance activities for war-affected populations, he said. The OCHA official would support the efforts of the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General, Francis Okelo, and the UN humanitarian coordinator for Sierra Leone, Eckhard added.
Meanwhile, Okelo travelled to Nigeria today to hold talks with countries with troops in Sierra Leone, Reuters said.
Less than 700 refugees reported in Guinea
Only 654 Sierra Leoneans have arrived in neighbouring Guinea since the fighting began in Freetown, according to UNHCR. The regional UNHCR spokesman in Abidjan told IRIN today that 247 of these refugeees had arrived by boat and the rest by foot. No new refugees have been reported in Liberia. He said the number of new refugees has been small because Freetown residents have been trapped in their homes since the renewed conflict and have been unable to flee. "Otherwise, we would have seen many, many more refugee arrivals," he said. A UNHCR spokesperson in Geneva said yesterday that a contingency plan had been drawn up for the possible arrival of up to 20,000 new refugees in Guinea.
More displaced arrive in Kenema
Humanitarian sources said today that rebel activities near the southeastern town of Kenema have prompted fresh arrivals of internally displaced persons (IDPs) into the town. The estimated number of IDPs in Kenema is now 50,000, up from 36,000 reported last week. There are many wounded people among the new arrivals and drugs are reported to be in short supply, the sources said.
Pope appeals for peace, release of missionaries
Pope John Paul II yesterday appealed for an end to violence in Sierra Leone and Kosovo, news agencies said. The conflict in Sierra Leone had been characterised by "ferocity and ruthlessness", Reuters quoted him as saying. At his regular weekly audience, the Pope said his thoughts turned especially to Roman Catholic missionaries held hostage in Sierra Leone. He appealed for their release, AP reported. The RUF have been accused of abducting Freetown Archbishop Joseph Henry Ganda and 11 priests and nuns.
Ukraine denies mercenary report
Meanwhile, the Ukrainian Foreign Ministry has denied the involvement of Ukrainian mercenaries in the Sierra Leonean conflict, the Itar-Tass news agency said yesterday. Media reports had alleged that some 300 Ukrainian mercenaries were fighting on the side of the RUF, Itar-Tass, monitored by the BBC, said.
GUINEA BISSAU: ECOMOG due in Bissau by end January
ECOMOG will complete its deployment in Guinea Bissau by the end of the month, Togolese Defence Minister Assani Tidjani told AFP yesterday.
Officials from troop-contributing countries - Benin, The Gambia, Niger and Togo - as well as representatives from donor countries met yesterday in Lome, the Togolese capital, to make final plans for deployment, the agency said.
When they arrive, the troops will take up positions between loyalist government forces and those of the mutinous Military Junta which tried to oust President Joao Bernardo Vieira in June 1998. In accordance with the November 1998 Abuja peace accord, the arrival of ECOMOG will enable the departure of Senegalese and Guinean troops, who were defending the Vieira government.
Tidjani said the delay was due to logistical problems. A French navy ship carrying equipment for ECOMOG was expected in Guinea Bissau by the end of January, he added. Military Junta leader General Ansumane Mane had given the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is sending ECOMOG, till the end of this week to announce the deployment date. So far, just one company of Togolese troops, an advance element sent to secure the airport in the capital, has arrived. The other troops are expected from Benin, The Gambia and Niger.
ECOWAS denies reports of 5,000-strong ECOMOG force
ECOWAS has described as incorrect media reports that a 5,000-strong ECOMOG force would be sent to Guinea Bissau, an ECOWAS official told IRIN today. Although the West African force is due to be sent, its exact strength has not yet been made public.
Reuters cited a report by the News Agency of Nigeria quoting ECOWAS Executive Secretary Lansana Kouyate as saying a troop level of 5,000 had been determined by ECOMOG Force Commander Major General Timothy Shelpidi following a recent assessment mission to Guinea Bissau.
"He never said such a thing," the ECOWAS press official said.
GUINEA: Government defends child rights record
Regional instability has strongly impacted Guinea's ability to promote and protect children's rights, a government delegation told the UN Committee on the Rights of the Child yesterday. In explaining how the country was complying with the provisions of the Convention on the Rights of the Child, the delegation said that Guinea was surrounded by six countries suffering from civil strife and that an increase in its defence budget had curbed the amount of funding allocated to the social sectors, according to a UN press release. The committee of independent human rights experts is reviewing Guinea's initial report on how it is implementing the child's rights treaty. The government report said that the wars in Sierra Leone and Liberia in particular had had a strong impact on Guinea, which had "opened its doors wide to nearly a million refugees", over 65 percent of whom were children. The government had used funds to help refugees in difficulty, it said.
In presenting the report to the 10-member committee meeting in Geneva, Minister for Social Affairs, Women and Children, Hadja Saran Daraba, said lack of financial and skilled human resources had made it difficult to fully implement the provisions of the Convention. She said that 40 percent of the population were living below the poverty line and did not even have one dollar a day to live on. The committee's debate on Guinea was expected to conclude today. (For more information, please see http://www.unhchr.ch)
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Persecution of Bubi group persists, Amnesty says
A "new wave of arrests" targeting mainly the Bubi ethnic group has taken place in Equatorial Guinea, Amnesty International said. In a January 1999 report, Amnesty said at least 20 people were recently arrested, held incommunicado in the capital Malabo and reportedly tortured. The arrests followed rumours that a suspected leader of the January 1998 attacks on military barracks on Bioko island had fled by boat to Nigeria, the report said. Those arrested include relatives and people suspected of hiding the leader or helping him to flee, Amnesty said. It said some 80 people, convicted in May on the basis of confessions made under torture in connection with last year's attack, continued to be detained at Malabo's Black Beach prison in crowded cells, and 11 sentenced to death were being held in "life-threatening conditions". One detainee died in July 1998 and many of the prisoners are said to be very weak and not receiving adequate treatment or food, it said. In additional to persecution of the Bubi population, the government has continued to harass peaceful political opponents, Amnesty added.
NIGERIA: Carter in Nigeria
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter arrived in Nigeria yesterday for a joint four-day election assessment mission with the National Democratic Institute for International Affairs (NDI), news reports said.
Both organisations have monitored local and state elections in Nigeria and will also be monitoring the presidential elections due on 27 February.
Carter is due to meet Nigerian military leader General Abdulsalami Abubakar and representatives of the three parties participating in the National Assembly and presidential elections. These are the Alliance for Democracy (AD), the All People's Party (APP), and the People's Democratic Party (PDP). Carter and the NDI delegation will also be meeting the Independent National Electoral Commission, the non-governmental Transition Monitoring Group as well as business, religious and labour leaders.
The Washington-based NDI and the Carter Center have conducted programmes to support credible elections in several countries.
GHANA: Eight cholera deaths
Eight people have died of cholera this month in the western part of Accra, the Ghanaian capital, Reuters reported quoting Health Minister Samuel Nuamah-Donkor yesterday. He told reporters that at least 120 cases had been reported by area hospitals and clinics. A WHO medical official in the city told IRIN today that it was unusual for cholera to break out during the dry season, which the country was now experiencing.
AFRICA: UNICEF appeals for emergency funds
UNICEF has appealed to donors for emergency assistance for women and children victims of war. Almost 50 million women and children were facing extreme danger in various parts of the world, Nils Katsberg, UNICEF Director of Emergency Programmes, told a headquarters press briefing yesterday. He said women and children were increasingly the deliberate targets in civil conflicts. UNICEF is requesting approximately US $136 million for emergency assistance for 20 countries worldwide as part of this year's United Nations Consolidated Appeal launched in December 1998. The funds are earmarked for countries which are in conflict or post-conflict situations. UNICEF has a target figure of $7,750,000 for Sierra Leone and $8,791,300 for Guinea Bissau. (Details of the 1999 UN Consolidated Inter-Agency Appeal for Guinea Bissau and Sierra Leone can be found of http://www.reliefweb.int)
UNCTAD launches project to attract foreign investors
The United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) launched a joint project today to help six of the world's least developed countries (LDC's) attract more foreign direct investors. The six countries - Mali, Mozambique, Uganda, Ethiopia, Madagascar and Bangladesh - are among 48 LDC's of which 33 are in Africa. Less than one percent of private foreign direct investment goes to these countries, UNCTAD said in a press release. Once the project is well established, the intention is to extend it to other least developed countries. The governments of China, Finland, France and Norway are providing financial support, UNCTAD added.
"The project has two aims," a project officer for UNCTAD told IRIN today. "In the short term, to produce information guides on investment opportunities and in the long term, as a tool to initiate dialogue between governments and foreign investors." UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has described the initiative as "a showcase project" that illustrates the benefits of partnership between the UN and business, UNCTAD said.
Abidjan, 20 January 1999, 19:00 GMT
[ENDS]
Date: Wed, 20 Jan 1999 19:21:13 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 384 for 1999.1.20
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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