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IRIN-WA Update 387 of Events in West Africa (Monday 25 January)
SIERRA LEONE: Freetown remains tense
Fighting between Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels and the West African intervention force ECOMOG continued over the weekend on the eastern outskirts of the capital Freetown as sporadic gunfire and a tense climate was reported in the city itself, news agencies said today (Monday). They said there were still pockets of rebel resistance in the Kissy neighbourhood of Freetown, and thousands of people had moved to western Freetown from the east. Power and water supplies were restored on Friday to most areas of the capital, and curfew hours were reduced to run from 6 p.m. to 7 a.m., news reports said. RUF commander Sam Bockarie, however, told AFP on Friday that his troops were still strong and were "planning a surprise attack on Freetown".
Security Council seeks safety for aid workers
The UN Security Council on Friday said it was gravely concerned about the worsening humanitarian situation in Freetown and it called on all parties to "ensure the safety of all humanitarian personnel." A statement from the council president expressed its support for the government of President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah and the efforts of ECOMOG. The statement said there had been "some improvement" in the security situation but that the situation remained serious and was "cause for concern".
Renewed amnesty offer for rebels
Sierra Leone's government has reinstated its offer of amnesty to all those involved in the "senseless destruction of lives and property." In a statement submitted to the UN Security Council on 22 January, the government said rebels who take up the amnesty offer would be pardoned and made to participate in a disarmament, demobilisation and rehabilitation programme "as a prerequisite for their reintegration into society." But it said the government would not allow detained RUF leader Foday Sankoh to reside outside Sierra Leone to prevent him from mounting "another reign of terror" in the country.
Taylor opposes civil defence force
Liberian President Charles Taylor has expressed concern over the proposed arming of a 15,000-strong Civil Defence Force in Sierra Leone, saying it would pose a threat to his country, Monrovia's Star Radio reported. Sierra Leonean Finance Minister James Jonah last week said his government would seek British support to arm the defence force, which would incorporate Kamajor militia, news agencies said. Meanwhile, Taylor again denied his government's alleged support to the RUF and called for an independent investigation into the issue, Star Radio said on Saturday.
ICRC rejects government accusations
ICRC has rejected accusations that it had used communications equipment to aid the rebels in Freetown. In a statement received today by IRIN, ICRC said the claims were "without foundation and undermine the ICRC's reputation for strict neutrality." The government ordered remaining ICRC delegates in Freetown to leave the country on 13 January. The statement said that ICRC's communications equipment were an "indispensable tool in aiding the victims of conflict" and were used solely for maintaining contact with and ensuring the safety of its field staff. The statement also said that the authorities had not yet provided any information on six ICRC national employees arrested by ECOMOG earlier this month.
Need for human rights monitors stressed
Plans to reduce the number of human rights monitors in the UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) were "unacceptable", Amnesty International said on Friday. In a statement received by IRIN, Amnesty said the UNOMSIL human rights section was being "weakened dramatically" when abuses against civilians were worsening. Amnesty was receiving daily reports of atrocities committed by rebel forces, and "hundreds of unarmed civilians" had been deliberately and arbitrarily killed by rebel forces in Freetown since 6 January, the statement said. It added that ECOMOG and Civil Defence Forces had summarily executed captured rebels or suspected rebel supporters and that indiscriminate aerial bombardments on densely-populated areas of Freetown had resulted in large numbers of civilian casualties.
Abducted nun killed
Rebels shot and killed an Indian nun they had abducted earlier this month in Freetown, the missionary news agency MISNA reported on Saturday. It said an Italian priest was also shot in Friday's incident but he managed to escape. Six other missionaries, including five nuns, were still being held hostage by the rebels, MISNA added.
GUINEA BISSAU: New date for government swearing-in
The Guinea Bissau government of national unity will be sworn in on 7 February, three days after the scheduled withdrawal of Guinean and Senegalese troops from the country, AFP reported at the weekend quoting Prime Minister Francisco Fadul.
The inaugural date was decided in weekend talks with a delegation of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which is to send an interposition force to the country. The formation of the government has been delayed by haggling over the departure of the Guineans and Senegalese, as well as the arrival of ECOMOG troops.
"I am optimistic they will form a government soon because of strong pressure from parties," a Bissau-based diplomat told IRIN today (Monday). "The public will not accept postponement."
Formation of the unity government and deployment of ECOMOG troops are major elements of a peace accord signed in November 1998 between the government of Joao Bernardo Vieira and the Military Junta.
France denies military presence in Guinea Bissau
The French ambassador to Guinea Bissau, Francois Chappellet, told IRIN today there was no French military presence in Guinea Bissau. A report by the Portuguese news agency Lusa last Thursday cited a communique by the Resistencia da Guine-Bissau - Movimento Ba-Fata (RGB-MB), and the Uniao para a Mudanca (UM) criticising what they said was the "increasing (French) presence and movement of military forces" in the Bissau region and the offshore Bijagos islands.
Chappellet said the only French troops in the country comprised his 15 embassy guards. France, in talks with ECOWAS, had offered to provide equipment and transport for a battalion of multinational ECOMOG interposition troops in Guinea Bissau, he said.
SENEGAL: President meets separatist leader
President Abdou Diouf held talks for the first time on Friday with the secretary-general of the separatist Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC), Father Augustin Diamacoune Senghor, news organisations reported. The two leaders held their historic meeting lasting over an hour in the capital of the southern province of Casamance, Ziguinchor, Reuters said.
Diouf had called for dialogue between the MFDC and the government earlier in the day in a broadcast address. "The time has come to talk to one another frankly, sincerely and fraternally," Diouf was quoted as saying. Diamacoune, who is under house arrest near Ziguinchor, reaffirmed his commitment to the search for peace and the start of negotiations, the minister of state for agriculture and Ziguinchor mayor, Robert Sagna, told Senegalese radio. According to the Senegalese newspaper 'Sud Quotidien', the talks were "unanimously" welcomed by political leaders.
The MFDC took up arms in December 1982 in support of the establishment of a sovereign state. Hundreds of soldiers, civilians and MFDC forces have died in the intermittent conflict. The Senegalese intervention in Guinea Bissau in June 1998 deprived the MFDC of rear bases in Guinea Bissau. Last November's Guinea Bissau peace accord provided for an interposition force to maintain security along the border. Last October, Diamacoune called for a new peace process to bring together the various rebel factions.
Leader of electricity union released from jail
The leader of the power workers' Syndicat unique des travailleurs de l'electricite (SUTELEC), Mademba Sock, and a colleague were released from jail on Saturday, sources in Dakar said. The two men had been sentenced to six months in prison in December, accused of "disrupting public order", having already spent several months in detention, according to AFP. They were released by the same tribunal on grounds of insufficent evidence. The two had been detained following a strike in protest against privatisation plans which plunged Senegal into darkness.
First Senate elections held
Yesterday, Senegal held its first ever Senate elections for 45 of the 60 seats in the new house of parliament, news agencies reported. The poll was boycotted by the majority of the opposition. Diouf's ruling Socialist Party (PS) has the support of 12,000 of the 13,000 eligible voters, which include MP's, local, municipal and regional councillors, and is widely expected to win almost all the senate seats. Of the remaining 15 seats, 12 senators will be nominated by the president and Senegalese living abroad vote for three. The creation of the senate is part of efforts to make the government more representative, Reuters reported. Results are expected to start coming in tomorrow.
GABON: University and schools close following student unrest
Gabon's Omar Bongo University as well as primary and secondary schools in Libreville were closed on Friday following clashes between students and security forces, news agencies reported. The clashes were the result of two months of "intermittent" demonstrations, AP reported. Police used teargas against the students, Reuters said, quoting witnesses. The students' grievances include demands for more teachers, school buses and support for more pay for teachers. The protests follow opposition rejection of President Omar Bongo's re-election in December, which they describe as "rigged", Reuters said.
New Gabonese prime minister named
Meanwhile, the president on Saturday nominated Jean-Francois Ntoutoume-Emane as the country's new prime minister, AFP said.
MALI: Twenty wounded in rally
Twenty people were injured on Saturday in Bamako, the Malian capital, as police moved in to break up a rally by the Mouvement patriotique pour le renouveau (MPR), the main opposition party, AFP reported.
Party officials said at the weekend that the incident occurred when party leaders arrived at the national theatre to tell supporters that a planned rally had been cancelled because of refurbishment work, AFP reported. The agency did not say how the party members received their injuries nor how serious these were.
Witnesses were quoted as saying the building was jammed with security personnel for several hours after the incident. Five hundred party militants, who regrouped at the party headquarters, were told "not to respond to provocation" as they were about to march in protect to a political forum held by President Alpha Omar Konare, AFP said. The week-long forum to discuss Mali's political and institutional problems opened last Thursday but only four of Mali's 19 opposition parties are attending, the agency reported.
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Army warns "terrorists"
Equatorial Guinea's army has warned that it will use "all means" to defend the country against domestic terrorists and ensure peace in the country, AFP reported, quoting Radio Malabo, monitored in Gabon. The army's warning came on Friday in a ceremony dedicated to six police officers killed in January 1998, when an armed group attacked military barracks on the island of Bioko. Five civilians also died in the attack, which the government attributed to the separatist Movimiento de Autodeterminacion de la Isla de Bioko (MAIB). The movement says it defends the rights of the Bubi ethnic minority.
In a January 1999 report, Amnesty International criticised the persecution of the Bubi population.
Abidjan, 25 January 1999, 19:45 GMT
[ENDS]
Date: Mon, 25 Jan 1999 19:57:06 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 387 for 1999.1.25
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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