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IRIN-WA Update 390 of Events in West Africa (Thursday 28 January)
SIERRA LEONE: "Siege mentality" reported in Freetown
The West African intervention force ECOMOG carried out more bombing raids against rebels in hills near the capital Freetown yesterday (Wednesday), news agencies said. AFP quoted an ECOMOG spokesman as saying that the town of Waterloo, southeast of Freetown, was now in ECOMOG hands, effectively preventing rebels "from escaping to Liberia." Meanwhile, a "siege mentality" had taken hold in Freetown, with checkpoints set up at strategic locations by ECOMOG troops on the lookout for rebels who have mixed among civilians, AFP said today (Thursday). Many other checkpoints have been erected by civilian "vigilante groups" who stop and search all passing vehicles and pedestrians, news agencies said.
Liberian refugees subject to harassment
Liberian refugees displaced by the conflict in Freetown have complained of harassment by civilian vigilante groups in the city, UNHCR said. In a statement received by IRIN, UNHCR said the refugees reported that some people of Liberian descent, who did not speak the same local language, had even been killed because they were suspected of being rebels. "Four of my children were abducted of which three girls, aged between 15 and 12, were raped," the statement quoted a refugee leader as telling a UNHCR team that visited Freetown on Tuesday. There were some 12,000 Liberian refugees in Sierra Leone prior to the conflict, including 1,200 at Waterloo camp near Freetown and 2,521 in Kenema. The rest were scattered throughout the country, the statement said.
Nigerians to leave by May, Abubakar says
Nigerian head of state Abdulsalami Abubakar said yesterday that his country's troops should pull out of Sierra Leone by the end of May 1999, news agencies said. It was the first time Nigeria had expressed a desire to withdraw troops by a particular date, AFP reported. It quoted Abubakar as saying that his government wished for the restoration of peace in Sierra Leone "so that Nigerian troops in that country could be withdrawn before May 29, when a civil democratic government will be inaugurated in Nigeria." Meanwhile, Abubakar said Nigeria would encourage dialogue between the Sierra Leonean government and the rebel groups there following the stabilisation of the situation in Freetown, Nigerian television, monitored by the BBC, reported yesterday.
Aid programmes running in interior
Most humanitarian programmes outside of Freetown have remained operational since the outbreak of fighting in the capital, a report from the US Office of Foreign Disaster Assistance (OFDA) said. It said a survey earlier this month indicated that OFDA-funded programmes run by CRS, MSF and World Vision in Bo, Kenema, Kambia and Pujehun continued to operate. The programmes include agriculture, emergency health and therapeutic feeding activities, the report, dated last Friday, said.
Meanwhile, some 116,000 displaced people had so far been registered at six Freetown sites and the registration process was continuing, humanitarian sources told IRIN today. The displaced are gathered at the central stadium, school buildings and other sites.
NGO worker killed
A staff member of the NGO Concern was killed by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels in Freetown on Monday, a Concern statement received by IRIN today said. It said Taiwu Kamara, a 30-year-old Sierra Leonean programme monitor, was shot while trying to escape from a building that had been set alight by the rebels in the Kissy neighbourhood. He was one several Concern employees with whom contact had been lost over the weekend after NGOs' communications equipment had been confiscated by ECOMOG, the statement added. The NGO hoped to quickly reestablish its humanitarian activities in the city, the statement said, adding that there was an urgent need to provide food, shelter and health assistance to civilians there.
Three more abducted nuns killed
Spanish journalist Javier Espinosa, released by rebels in Freetown yesterday, said three nuns abducted by the RUF earlier this month had been killed during an exchange of gunfire between rebels and ECOMOG forces, AFP reported. Citing the Spanish daily 'El Mundo', AFP said the three victims were buried in the hills near where Espinosa was help captive for 48 hours. A fourth nun had been killed by her kidnappers on Saturday. Two other abducted nuns were still alive, Espinosa was quoted as saying.
Canada annouces support for ECOMOG
Canada will contribute one million Canadian dollars (US $660,000) in support of ECOMOG efforts to reestablish stability in Sierra Leone, Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister Lloyd Axworthy announced yesterday in Ghana, where he was discussing the situation in Sierra Leone with the governments of Nigeria and Ghana. A Canadian government statement said the donation to ECOMOG, which the UN had chosen "as its peacekeeping partner in the region", was in response to the latest crisis in the country.
NIGERIA: Canada pledges support
Earlier, during a visit to Nigeria, Axworthy announced that Canada would contribute Canadian $ 750,000 to projects supporting free and fair elections in Nigeria. A press release from the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs yesterday said Ottawa would also contribute $115,000 to a project supporting democratic development. "One of the objectives of Mr Axworthy's trip was to convey Canada's satisfaction with the way elections have been held since the death of General Abacha and to encourage them to continue their efforts," Donald McMaster, the Canadian ambassador in Abidjan, told IRIN today.
Reuters quoted Axworthy as saying if a civilian government was elected and the transfer of power carried out, Nigeria should be "brought back into the Commonwealth".
AD announces presidential candidate
The Alliance for Democracy (AD) party, which is reportedly merging with the All People's Party (APP), has put forward its candidate for next month's presidential elections. It announced former finance minister Chief Olu Samuel Falae, as its candidate for the 27 February poll, the independent 'Guardian' newspaper said today. Falae beat his rival, Chief Bola Ige, with 14 to nine votes in a secret ballot in Ibadan yesterday, the newspaper added.
Electoral Commission unhappy about alliance between two parties
The head of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Justice Ephraim Akpata, said yesterday that the electoral alliance announced this week between the AD and APP "appeared to contravene INEC rules", AFP reported. He said that the two parties wanted to "derive the benefits of a merger without going through with one".
EU mission looking at aid resumption
Meanwhile, an EU delegation began talks with Nigerian officials today about resuming development aid, Reuters reported. EU aid was stopped in 1995, in an attempt to force the ruling generals to carry out reforms. The talks will take place over two days with the ministries of planning, finance and foreign affairs and INEC, Reuters said citing an EU statement.
Petrol queues continue, despite predicted end to fuel crisis
There is no let-up in the petrol queues throughout Lagos, despite an announcement by the authorities that the fuel crisis will end soon, a resident told IRIN today. According to AFP, an adviser to military leader General Abdulsalami Abubakar said the fuel shortage would end as imports continued and collapsed refineries were repaired. "The black market price will continue to fall until the black market is snuffed out in about two or three months' time," the adviser Aret Adams said in a speech delivered yesterday by an aide to the Franco-Nigerian Chamber of Commerce and Industry. Fifty percent of Nigeria's fuel consumption is reportedly in Lagos.
TOGO: Rights body denounces torture in Togo, authorities deny claim
Togo has "categorically" denied accusations of detention and torture by a human rights group, describing them as "fallacious". A report by the International Federation of Human Rights (FIDH), received by IRIN on Wednesday, claimed Togolese citizens were being arbitrarily detained and tortured. But, according to AFP, the chief prosecutor of Lome's Court of Appeal said FIDH investigators "who benefited from all facilities during their stay in Togo...never told the authorities of their observations and conclusions...so that an immediate verification could be conducted in their presence".
The FIDH report, which was prompted by controversial presidential elections last year, said detainees were often held without being charged or brought to trial. "Witnesses speak of detention and torture centres operated by the national police" outside the control of the penal authorities, it stated. It added that poor working conditions meant the Togolese justice system was not equipped to conduct investigations. The report further described jails as filthy and overcrowded. In Lome prison for example, many of the sick inmates died from malnutrition and lack of medical care. The report warned that the uncertain political climate in Togo could limit individual freedom and further aggravate the human rights situation.
But the prosecutor rejected the claim of arbitrary detentions. "Everything supports the belief that these inaccuracies and untruths bely a deliberate will to discredit Togo...on the eve of legislative elctions", he said.
GUINEA BISSAU: Gambia to send peacekeepers
The Gambian parliament has approved the deployment of between 100 and 150 troops to take part in an ECOMOG peacekeeping force for Guinea Bissau, news organisations reported. The 600-strong force, which also comprises contingents from Benin, Niger and Togo, is due to take over from Senegalese and Guinean peacekeepers next month.
Most residents back in capital after fleeing last year's fighting
Most of Bissau city's 300,000 residents have returned home since fleeing heavy fighting in the capital last year, the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) reported. It said they have been gradually returning since a peace agreement was signed in November putting an end to hostilities between government soldiers and an opposing military junta. Some 18,000 people living in 2,500 homes damaged in the fighting have been given non-food items such as tents, buckets, mats, jerrycans and soap.
LIBERIA: Minister lashes out against US, UK
Deputy Information Minister J.Milton Teahjay has accused London and Washington of "leading a misinformation campaign" against his country and strongly denied accusations that Liberia was supporting rebels in Sierra Leone's civil war. "What is happening is an international conspiracy to try to subject Liberia to international ridicule," he told a news conference at the Liberian embassy in London, according to Reuters. He said Liberia did not have the resources to become involved in such a war. "We have absolutely no relation with RUF [Revolutionary United Front] rebels," he added.
Abidjan, 28 January 1999, 18:25 gmt
[ENDS]
Date: Thu, 28 Jan 1999 18:35:19 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-West Africa Update 390 for 1999.1.28
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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