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IRIN-WA Update 417 of Events in West Africa (Monday 8 March)
SIERRA LEONE: Annan recommends extending UNOMSIL mandate
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan has recommended extending the mandate of the UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL) for a further three months, until 13 June. In a report to the Security Council on Friday, he strongly condemned the appalling human rights violations in the country. He congratulated the West African intervention force ECOMOG for successfully pushing back the rebels from Freetown, but expressed concern over the proposed withdrawal of the Nigerian contingent in May. This could require a "major reappraisal" of the situation, he warned. In the meantime, he urged the international community to continue logistical support to ECOMOG and bilateral assistance to the Sierra Leone government.
Annan also considered that the government had confronted its problems with "skill and courage", particularly President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah's decision to allow jailed rebel leader Foday Sankoh to meet his rebel commanders. He said it was up the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) to give assurances it was committed to peace.
Should negotiations between the government and rebels take a favourable turn, UNOMSIL should remain in a position where it could render further assistance to the peace process, hence the recommendation to extend its mandate, Annan said. Given the improved security situation in Freetown, he said UNOMSIL would be re-established there as soon as possible. He also intended to deploy an additional human rights officer to UNOMSIL.
Inter-Religious Council due to meet Sankoh again
The influential Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL), which held direct talks with Sankoh last week, told IRIN another face-to-face meeting was scheduled for today. Last week's talks were described as an initial meeting which culminated in the release of 31 child captives. The children, aged between five and 18, were yesterday (Sunday) handed over to UNICEF who described them as exhausted and starving. Some 2,000 children have been reported missing as a result of the war, many of them abducted by the rebels.
Rebels warn of further offensive
RUF spokesman Omrie Golley has warned of another rebel offensive unless the government "acts quickly" to advance the peace process. He told AFP the RUF was beginning to think the government was not serious about the peace process and "unless the situation changes...we will have little alternative but to commence the offensive". He added that rebel field commander Sam Bockarie had told him the fighters were on an "increased state of alert". He also said Major Johnny Paul Koroma, who led the rebel Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) that toppled Kabbah in 1997, was now considered the RUF number two.
Warning of major food emergency
The humanitarian community has warned that the agricultural outlook is grim, and said that as the July-October rainy season approaches, the most vulnerable will require significant relief assistance. The insecure situation means harvesting has been severely disrupted, and land preparation which should have been completed during February has been interrupted. Humanitarian sources told IRIN that if the planting season was not successful, the end-year harvest will not be enough to meet the country's needs. They warned that unless food security agencies were given access to get the population started on food production, the country was likely to slide further into a major food emergency in the coming months.
The sources also expressed concern over the possibility of high infant mortality in the Kono and Kailahun areas. Reports of measles and meningitis identified among those displaced from these areas were a strong indication that scores of children may be dying from preventable diseases.
LIBERIA: Taylor sends special envoy to Sierra Leone
President Charles Taylor has sent a special envoy to Sierra Leone aimed at improving relations between the two countries, Star radio reported. The envoy, Senator Keikura Kpoto, held talks with President Kabbah and told him every effort would be made to "restore the once cordial relations". Bilateral ties are tense after Liberia was accused of aiding the Sierra Leone rebels.
Government slams US human rights report
The government today slammed a US State Department report on human rights practices for 1998, describing it as neither "credible nor authentic". A government statement, reported by Star radio, said the report was compiled by people who lacked understanding of critical issues in Liberia. In its report, the State Department accused Liberia of a poor human rights record, with security forces carrying out "many extrajudicial killings". The judicial system, "hampered by ineffeciency, corruption and a lack of resources", was unable to ensure citizens' rights to due process and a fair trial, the report said. Freedom of the press and freedom of movement were restricted. Violence against women and children remained a problem, and forced labour - often using children - persisted in rural areas, according to the report.
GUINEA BISSAU: ECOMOG commander visits
ECOMOG Force Commander Major General Timothy Shelpidi last week visited Guinea Bissau to assess his peacekeeping troops there, the force said in a statement sent to IRIN. He held talks with President Joao Bernardo Vieira who called for the immediate reopening of the Junta-controlled international airport and loyalist-held sea port. Shelpidi also met self-styled Military Junta leader General Ansumane Mane, Prime Minister Francisco Fadul, and the ECOMOG Task Force commander, Colonel Gnakoude Berna of Togo.
Vieira called on Shelpidi to increase the 600 ECOMOG troops in Guinea Bissau and for more arms and better logistics so the force could carry out its mission fully. He also said security should not be compromised in any way "especially in view of the withdrawal of Senegalese troops".
More Senegalese troops leave
The commander of the Senegalese forces in Guinea Bissau told Shelpidi that 1,700 of the estimated 2,500 Senegalese expeditionary force had been withdrawn in line with the Abuja peace accord. Under a later deal reached by all the warring parties in Guinea Bissau, the Guineans and Senegalese have till 16 March to complete their pullout.
The speedy departure of these forces has been a constant demand by the Junta. Emphasising this point, Mane told Shelpidi in Bissau that the Senegalese troops had no reason to remain in the country, since the Junta recognised ECOMOG as the sole force in charge of security.
Mane told Shelpidi that although his forces had "no interest in these foreign troops" their presence continued to compound internal problems and increase suspicion. Mane said his troops had not had any problems with ECOMOG troops. "In fact," he said, "the situation has improved greatly with their presence."
Meanwhile, ECOMOG forces have been giving medical aid to some 44,000 internally displaced people (IDPs) living in at least nine camps within the city, each holding between 20 and 2,000 people, the ECOMOG statement said.
Hundreds of weapons and ammo turned in
Hundreds of weapons and large quantities of ammunition were turned in to ECOMOG forces at four posts marking the frontline in Bissau on Friday, the Portuguese news agency Lusa reported. ECOMOG will guard weapons and prevent their use by either rival faction, it said. Lusa also said an operation to disarm and assemble some 5,000 loyalist and rebel troops in and around the capital began on Thursday and was expected to last one week.
Demining operations begin
Forces loyal to Mane have started clearing land mines from northern districts of Bissau, scene of the most recent clashes, AFP reported. It said that soldiers, who started the operation on Thursday, had deactivated 563 anti-personnel mines. An estimated 11,500 mines were laid by both sides at the height of the conflict and now pose a danger to civilians and other traffic.
Security Council in favour of UN support office
The UN Security Council has welcomed a proposal by Secretary-General Kofi Annan to open a UN support office in Guinea Bissau, the Council's president said in a statement released at the weekend. In February, Annan proposed that a UN Peacebuilding Support Office be set up to help restore peace, democracy and the rule of law as well as organise free and transparent elections. Additionally, the office would try and get the government's commitment and that of other parties to adopt a programme of voluntary arms collection and destruction. It would also provide leadership in harmonising the activities of the UN system in the country "particularly during the transitional period leading up to general and presidential elections".
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Ruling party leading in legislative poll
Preliminary returns of Equatorial Guinea's parliamentary elections yesterday show a large lead for the ruling Partido Democratico de Guinea Ecuatorial (PDGE) in nearly all districts, the BBC reported today. News organisations reported an 89 percent turnout. Final results are due to be published by 15 March. Reuters said 692 candidates from 13 parties contested the election for the 80-seat assembly. The main opposition Convergencia para la Democracia Social (CPDS) has dismissed the results in advance saying there has been massive fraud.
Abidjan, 8 March 1999, 17:20 gmt
[ENDS]
Date: Mon, 8 Mar 1999 17:46:13 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: WEST AFRICA: IRIN Update 417 [19990309]
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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