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IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 28-97 of Main Events in West Africa covering the period (Friday) 19 December - (Sunday) 28 December 1997
[The weekly round-ups are based on relevant information from UN agencies, NGOs, governments, donors and media. IRIN issues these reports for the benefit of the humanitarian community but accepts no responsibility as to the accuracy of the original source.]
SIERRA LEONE: Clashes between AFRC and Kamajors
Further clashes were reported this week between the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (AFRC) and Kamajor militias who support ousted elected president Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah. No casualty figures were given for the clashes which occurred in the south and east of the country.
Surprise Kabbah visit
A week ago, Kabbah paid a surprise visit to the ECOMOG base at Lungi airport just outside the capital Freetown. Kabbah dismissed recent statements by AFRC chairman, Major Johnny Paul Koroma, that he might delay the planned transfer back to civilian rule because of delays in the disarmament process due to have started on 1 December. Koroma dismissed the visit as a "cosmetic venture".
Timetable critical
Nigerian Foreign Minister Tom Ikimi insisted, however, that the Conakry peace plan and timetable for Sierra Leone had to be respected. Ikimi was addressing a meeting in Abuja of the Committee of Five, a body established by the 16-nation Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to deal with the Sierra Leone crisis.
Food supplies critically short
Meanwhile, sources told IRIN last week that Sierra Leone was facing serious shortages of food and medical supplies. The Committee on Food Aid, which includes WFP, estimated that the balance of stocks would provide rations for only 60,000 of the most vulnerable on the register of 157,000 internally displaced people. With relief supplies in the country now below 500 MT, feeding programmes for the most needy had virtually ground to a halt.
NIGERIA: Special investigation panel set up
The Nigerian government announced the establishment of a special investigation into the alleged coup attempt against the country's military ruler General Sani Abacha. The festive season was marked by an Anglican Church call for prayers and fasting for alleged coup plotters now behind bars. They include Abacha's no 2, Lieutenant-General Oladipo Diya.
EU calls for fair conditions for detainees
The European Union (EU) appealed to the Nigerian government to treat those arrested according to international legal norms. The EU would not accept a repetition of events in 1995, adding that the detainees should have proper, independent recourse to legal representation.
SENEGAL: Rebel factions debate negotiating strategies
As tensions over attacks by separatists of Mouvement des Forces Democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) rose during the week, various factions of the MFDC held talks in the regional capital of Ziguinchor at the weekend to adopt a common approach on peace talks with the government.
Last week, President Abdou Diouf said his government was ready for direct talks with the MFDC in a bid to end the 15-year separatist rebellion.
LIBERIA: Journalist charged with treason
Liberian journalist Alex Redd faced treason charges
after a week of controversy over his detention. Redd
was allegedly held by security agents in Gbarnga, 165km
from Monrovia, on his way home from the funeral of
murdered opposition leader Samuel Dokie.
Sources in Monrovia told IRIN on Wednesday that Redd
was rumoured to be investigating Dokie's murder.
Refugees moved
Authorities last week started relocating some 50,000 Sierra Leonean refugees towards the interior of Liberia away from the border. The refugees had been living in the border area near Vahun, in Lofa county, for several months. The decision to relocate them was prompted b security concerns.
CAMEROON: Locust blight
A wave of African Migrating Locusts have ravaged some 100,000 hectares of cultivated lands in northern Cameroon creating a potential food crisis for some 400,000 people. The FAO told IRIN this week the situation in the extreme north was critical.
Abidjan, 29 December 1997, 18:30 gmt
[ends]
[The material contained in this communication comes to you via IRIN West Africa, a UN humanitarian information unit, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. UN IRIN-WA Tel: +225 21 73 66 Fax: +225 21 63 35 e-mail: irin-wa@africaonline.co.ci for more information or subscription. If you re-print, copy, archive or re-post this report, please retain this credit and disclaimer. Quotations or extracts should include attribution to the original sources. IRIN reports are archived on the Web at: http://www.reliefweb.int/emergenc or can be retrieved automatically by sending e-mail to archive@dha..unon.org. Mailing list: irin-wa-weekly]
Date: Mon, 29 Dec 1997 18:37:47 +0000 (GMT) From: UN IRIN - West Africa <irin-wa@wa.dha.unon.org> Subject: IRIN-WA Weekly Roundup 28-97, 97.12.29 Message-Id: <Pine.LNX.3.95.971229183446.11068A-100000@wa.dha.unon.org>
Editor: Ali B. Ali-Dinar
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