IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 10 covering the period 5-12 March 1999

SIERRA LEONE: UNOMSIL mandate extended The UN Security Council on Thursday approved the extension of the UN Observer Mission in Sierra Leone (UNOMSIL)’s mandate for a further three months, until 13 June, according to a news release received today (Friday). Secretary-General Kofi Annan made the recommendation in a report to the Security Council last Friday. He said 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. The Council welcomed Annan’s intention to re-establish UNOMSIL in Freetown as soon as possible and to increase the current number of military observers from eight to 14. In his report, Annan strongly condemned the appalling human rights violations in the country and 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. Kabbah optimistic after African visits President Alhaji Ahmad Tejan Kabbah returned home on Wednesday after a three-day vsit to Togo, Nigeria and Ghana, Sierra Leone radio reported. In all three countries, he discussed the peace process underway in his nation and pledged “never to abandon Sierra Leone to the hands of evil forces”. He said he had secured Togo’s agreement to mediate in the Sierra Leone conflict. Nigerian president-elect Olusegun Obasanjo was quoted as saying that Abuja could not keep its troops indefinitely in Sierra Leone, but there would not be an immediate withdrawal. Addressing a news conference in Accra, Kabbah said ongoing contacts with jailed Revolutionary United Front (RUF) leader Foday Sankoh confirmed that the country was ready for a peace dialogue. According to Ghanaian radio, Kabbah said there was “some measure of trust” between him and Sankoh “which needs to be nurtured”. Other news reports quoted Kabbah as saying he might be willing to release Sankoh. “If I have to use my clemency to release Sankoh in order to bring a lasting solution to my country, I will do that,” he said. Inter-Religious Council meets Sankoh again The secretary-general of the influential Inter-Religious Council of Sierra Leone (IRCSL) told IRIN on Tuesday he held a second meeting with Sankoh on Monday. Reverend Alimamy Koroma said the IRCSL was facilitating the peace process between the government and rebels and this meeting was a follow-up to the one held last week. He described the meetings as a “breakthrough” and said he was “very optimistic” regarding the prospects for peace. “There is full cooperation from both sides,” he added. Government rejects rebel accusations Sierra Leone presidential spokesman Septimus Kaikai on Tuesday reacted to comments by RUF spokesman Omrie Golley accusing the government of not moving fast enough and warning of another rebel offensive. “It is inaccurate to say the government is not acting quickly,” Kaikai told IRIN. He stressed the government had taken the initiative to push forward the peace process in line with the Abidjan peace accord of 1996. President Kabbah had allowed Sankoh to talk to his rebel commander, Sam Bockarie, with a view to advancing peace, Kaikai pointed out. If the rebels wanted to launch another offensive, they should not blame the government. Kaikai also rejected accusations by Golley that the government was seeking to “factionalise” the RUF. “We have no interest in splitting the rebels,” he said. The peace process was a national issue and involved every segment of society, he stressed. Sankoh urges truce According to news reports, Sankoh this week called on his followers to observe a truce and free all hostages within 72 hours. Sankoh reportedly told his commanders in a radio communication that “enough atrocities” had been committed. “It is time for peace,” he was quoted as saying. More attacks in Kambia The northwestern area of Kambia, near the Guinean border, is still very insecure with reports of further rebel attacks on the village of Pamelap, where aid agencies are located. Humanitarian sources told IRIN shooting broke out on Sunday and aid workers trying to flee into Guinea were turned back at the border. Guinean officials have been preventing foreign-registered vehicles from entering the country and reinforcing the country’s borders. Before Sunday’s fighting, relief workers registered 23,557 displaced people in Balamoya and surrounding villages. The plan was to bring relief supplies to them on Monday. It is believed more displaced people are stuck in villages between Rogberi and Balamoya, while others may have used bush paths to cross over to the Dakagbe refugee camp in Guinea. 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. WEST AFRICA: First stage in British-French policy coordination The British and French foreign ministers, Robin Cook and Hubert Vedrine, arrived in Abidjan on Thursday on their first joint visit to West Africa, aimed at ending centuries of rivalry on the continent. They flew in from Accra where they held talks on Wednesday with Ghanaian President Jerry Rawlings. In Abidjan, they met their ambassadors to discuss stronger British-French cooperation in Africa. “Britain and France have many common interests and responsibilities in Africa and it is sensible that we should pool our assets and our experiences and coordinate our approach,” Cook said before the trip. This outlook stems from an Anglo-French summit in St Malo in December 1998, where leaders committed their governments to harmonising policies on Africa and cooperating on the ground, the British Foreign and Commonwealth Office said on Thursday. Era of “zones of influence” over, Vedrine says In an interview with the French daily ‘La Croix’, published on Thursday, Vedrine said the joint visit with Cook symbolised the “modernisation” of France’s Africa policy. It demonstrated French willingness to coordinate activities with European partners - for example joint action with Portugal in Guinea Bissau and with Germany in the Sahel countries. There were no longer any “exclusive zones of influence”, Vedrine said. Africans should not fear that France and Britain were once again trying to “divide up” the continent between them. “It’s now a question of working together throughout the whole of Africa,” he said. Cook meets Nigerian leaders Cook was earlier in Nigeria where he met the current military leader General Abdulsalami Abubakar and president-elect General Olusegun Obasanjo. According to Nigerian radio, Cook “reiterated Britain’s commitment to Nigeria’s democratic process and readmission into the Commonwealth”. Cook also met Kabbah in Nigeria and had “useful discussions” on Sierra Leone, the radio said. LIBERIA: UNHCR repatriating hundreds of Liberians Some 720 more Liberian refugees are being repatriated by boat from Freetown in an ongoing operation conducted by UNHCR, the agency told IRIN on Thursday. Regional Information Officer Khassim Diagne said the first batch of 200 arrived on Wednesday aboard a ship chartered from Guinea. “There will be four more such trips over the next three to four weeks,” he said. The returnees, who asked to be repatriated, were among the 8,000 Liberians in Sierra Leone when Revolutionary United Front/Armed Forces Revolutionary Council (RUF/AFRC) rebels attacked the capital. Government slams US human rights report The Liberian government on Monday 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. 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. Senegalese troops clash with demonstrators Senegalese soldiers clashed with demonstrators in Bissau on Tuesday, during a rally demanding the withdrawal of foreign troops from the country, news reports said. Portuguese state radio said the trouble started when thousands of demonstrators, chanting anti-Senegalese slogans at the downtown waterfront venue of the rally, stoned a Senegalese truck full of soldiers trying to reach their Command centre. The soldiers jumped out and started beating, kicking and punching demonstrators. However, no shots were fired and injuries were described as slight. GUINEA: Jailed politician said to be dangerously ill Jailed Guinean opposition leader Alpha Conde, who has been on hunger strike for 10 days, is dangerously ill, his Rassemblement du peuple de Guinee (RPG) party said on Thursday, according to AFP. Conde started the hunger strike “to protest the non-respect of his rights”, the RPG said. His lawyers - from Guinea, France and Senegal - say he is being held in isolation. Last month they said they would suspend their defence of their client because the authorities had make the task impossible. EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Opposition says polls were flawed Equatorial Guinea’s main opposition party, Convergencia para la Democracia Social (CPDS), warned this week that the public was dissatisfied with Sunday’s parliamentary polls and could react with violent protests, Spanish radio reported. Placido Mico, the CPDS secretary-general, told the radio on Monday that “people might lose heart and, above all, grow desperate” following the irregularities reported in the elections—the most frequent complaint was that people were not allowed to vote in secret. “I think this shows simply that what he is doing is going backward,” Mico said, referring to irregularities and to statements by President Teodoro Obiang Nguema. The president told Spanish radio on Monday there was no doubt that anomalies might have occurred but said: “I think they are only human: nobody is perfect.” Preliminary results showed a large lead for the ruling Partido Democratico de Guinea Ecuatorial (PDGE) in nearly all districts. CHAD: Government admits presence of new rebel group A new Chadian rebel group claimed on Thursday to have captured two garrisons in northern Chad. AFP quoted Ahmed Kailan, the Paris-based spokesman of the rebel Mouvement pour la dimocratie et la justice au Tchad (MDJT) as saying that MDJT fighters took Zoumri and Omou, located in the semi-desert Tibetsi region, on 8 and 9 March. Violent clashes had occurred last week in the Tibetsi between the MDJT and troops loyal to Chadian President Idriss Deby, the Libreville-based ‘Africa No. 1’ radio station reported. Kailan said the two sides had fought 15 times since the MDJT was formed in October last in the Tibetsi. The rebel group’s leader, Youssouf Togoimi, was minister of defence and then of home affairs between 1995 and 1997, but after being placed under house arrest in Ndjamena, he fled to his home area in the Tibetsi mountains and started his rebellion with about 100 men, Kailan explained. BENIN: Election postponed Benin’s government on Saturday postponed its general elections to 30 March, according to AFP. The original date, 28 March, coincided with two holidays, one Christian (Palm Sunday) and the other Muslim (Eid el Kebir). The government said it put off the poll to ensure a high turnout by people of all religions.