| UNIVERSITY OF PENNSYLVANIA - AFRICAN STUDIES CENTER |
Tel: +225 21 73 54 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@ocha.unon.org
IRIN-WA Update 454 of events in West Africa (Friday 30 April)
NIGERIA: Commonwealth invites Nigeria
Commonwealth foreign ministers this week invited Nigeria to rejoin the 54-nation club when the democratically elected civilian government of President-elect Olusegun Obasanjo is sworn in on 29 May, officials told IRIN on Friday.
Analysts said the decision, announced at a meeting of Commonwealth foreign ministers in London, meant an end to three-and-a-half years isolation following the country's suspension from the Commonwealth in the wake of the execution of the author and minority rights campaigner, Ken Saro-Wiwa. He was executed with eight companions in 1995 under the hardline military regime of the late General Sani Abacha.
Abacha died in June last year and was succeeded by General Abdulsalami Abubakar who paved the way for general elections and a return to democracy after 15 years of military rule.
The decision was taken by the eight-nation Commonwealth Ministerial Action Group (CMAG) established to investigate human rights abuses in member countries.
CMAG chairman Zimbabwe Foreign Minister Stan Mudenge, said in an announcement: "CMAG decided to immediately recommend to Commonwealth heads of government that Nigeria's suspension from membership of the association be lifted".
The Nigerian foreign ministry welcomed the decision in a statement carried by news media saying it was "a vindication of the efforts of the government to make Nigeria take its rightful place in the international community."
Abubakar meets Ogoni leaders
Meanwhile, Nigerian media reported on Friday that General Abubakar had met leaders of the Ogoni community whose cause had been championed by Saro-Wiwa. At a meeting in Port Harcourt, he was quoted as telling Ogoni leaders that although the Niger Delta had been neglected in the past, the government was pledged to assist them in their long campaign against pollution in the oil-rich area and the lack of public services.
SENEGAL: Army says 19 die in clashes with guerrillas
Government troops killed 15 separatist guerrillas in clashes on Thursday in the southern area of Casamance, news reports said quoting an army statement.
The army said it lost two dead and two civilians killed in an exchange of fire with insurgents of the Mouvement des force democratiques (MFDC), who are fighting for the independence of Casamance. Another 18 people were wounded, one seriously, Reuters said.
This was the worse reported fighting in Casamance since Senegalese President Abdou Diouf met on 22 January with the political head of the MFDC, Abbe Diamacoune Senghor, to try end the 15-year war.
Since 1982, the MFDC has been demanding autonomy or independence while accusing the government of neglecting the Casamance largely inhabited by the Jola ethnic group. Many Jola women work as house help in the nation's capital, Dakar, and other major towns.
The army said that several of their positions came under mortar fire but that they were able to push the guerrillas back and that some had fled into neighbouring Guinea Bissau. Two shells slammed into the regional airport in the city of Ziguinchor just as a private aircraft with tourism ministry officials aboard, AFP reported.
The agency reported heavy weapons fire near Ziguinchor, the Casmance capital, on Tuesday and Wednesday. No casualties were reported.
The renewed fighting broke out as MFDC leaders met in neighbouring Gambia to try heal internal rifts and work out a coordinated approach for peace talks with the government.
Diouf appoints new head of electoral watchdog
In a separate development, President Diouf has appointed retired army General Amadou Dieng as head of the eight-member electoral monitoring commission known as ONEL, Reuters reported.
A presidential decree published on Thursday said the commission would monitor the presidential election in February 2000. Dieng replaces General Mamadou Niang, who has been named special envoy to Guinea Bissau.
GUINEA BISSAU: Fadul says cooperation with Senegal to resume
Prime Minister Francisco Fadul of Guinea Bissau said
he and President Diouf had agreed to an "immediate
resumption of cooperation", and put an end to
frosty relations between the two countries, Lusa reported
on Friday.
Fadul, in a two-day peacemaking visit to Senegal that
started on Thursday, said a "more formal"
resumption of bilateral ties would take place in August
at a meeting of the countries' joint commission on
cooperation. Diouf has also agreed to send his planning
minister to Geneva for the May 4-5 international conference
on aid to Guinea Bissau, so both countries could present
a "united bloc", Lusa said.
Fadul told reporters shortly after his arrival that relations between the two countries had been "definitely re-established". He apologised formally to the government of Senegal for the involvement of some Guinea Bissau nationals in arms trafficking to MFDC guerrillas in Casamance.
Relations hit an all-time low when Guinea Bissau's self-styled "Military Junta", led by the sacked Armed Forces Chief of Staff General Ansumane Mane, tried to drive Guinean Bissau President Joao Bernardo Vieira from power. Vieira appealed for, and received, Senegalese and Guinean military help to put down the eight-month rebellion which ended with a peace accord last November.
Fadul, backed by the army rebels, assumed office on 20 February to lead an interim government until general elections later this year.
European Union approves meningitis aid
Guinea Bissau and Senegal are jointly to received 650,000 euro (about US $689,000) to fight a meningitis epidemic that has spread in areas bordering the two countries, the European Commission announced on Thursday.
The money, to be disbursed by the EU humanitarian aid office, ECHO, will allow humanitarian organisations to buy and administer more than 600,000 doses of vaccine.
The EU office in the Senegal said Guinea Bissau, the worst of the affected countries, would receive 500,000 euro (US $530,000) of the amount. The money will go to the NGOs LVIA, and Dan Church Aid.
Senegal will get 150,000 euro (US $159,000) for the Health Department in Sedhiou, in the Casmance region of Kolda.
The epidemic, first reported in the east of Guinea Bissau
in January, spread suddenly March and has appeared
in eight of the country's 10 regions. Of 2,960 cases
reported so far, 242 have died.
LIBERIA: Measures to help humanitarian agencies
The Liberia Refugee Agency (LRRRC) has called on the government to take measures to stop the looting of property belonging to humanitarian agencies in Liberia, independent 'Star Radio' reported on Thursday.
"The agency's director, Alexander Kulue, says he is concerned about the looting of properties of donor agencies by security officers. Mr. Kulue said he witnessed the confiscation of UN properties by security officers in Zorzor recently," the radio said.
Kalue said he regretted that aid agencies had been "victimised" and said its programmes had been set back by the brief detention last week of UN officials in the town of Voinjama near the country's northern border with Guinea.
Abidjan, 30 April, 1999 16:15 GMT
[ENDS]
Date: Fri, 30 Apr 1999 16:48:22 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.ocha.unon.org> Subject: WEST AFRICA: IRIN Update 454 for 30 April [19990501]
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
| Previous Menu | Home Page | What's New | Search | Country Specific |