Date: Wed, 26 Apr 2000 18:58:56 +0000 (GMT)
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Subject: WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Update 704  [2000426]
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U N I T E D  N A T I O N S
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Integrated Regional Information Network for West Africa

Tel: +225 22-40-4440
Fax: +225 22-40-4435
e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ci

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Update 704 (Wednesday 26 April)

CONTENTS:

SIERRA LEONE: Rebels interrupt disarmament efforts
SIERRA LEONE: More Zambian troops expected
BURKINA FASO: Law on opposition parties adopted
BURKINA FASO: Students end strike
CAMEROON: About 100 secessionists arrested 
HEALTH: US $300-500 million pledged against malaria
TOGO: Ruling party, opposition resume dialogue
 
SIERRA LEONE: Rebels interrupt disarmament efforts

Rebels of the Revolutionary United Front (RUF) on Saturday asked UN
military observers to dismantle a reception centre for combatants in
Magburaka area in northern Sierra Leone.

"They said their leader had not told them that a centre was to be erected
in that area," a UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) official told IRIN
on Wednesday. "They did not refuse that the reception centre be put up in
this area, but only wanted to get it from their leader first," he
explained.

Reception centres are where the peacekeepers make the "first contact" with
the combatants, the source explained. "It is where they [combatants]
report to the UN military observers, are registered, and have their
weapons taken," he said. "Later they are relocated to the disarmament
camps for the demobilisation and reintegration programme."

"Up to now, the Magburaka reception centre has not been reopened,"  the
UNAMSIL official said, adding that he expected the matter to be resolved.
He said the military observers complied with the rebels' request because
"the UN is trying to handle the whole operation as diplomatically as
possible".

So far, the active disarmament centres in Sierra Leone are two in Port
Loko in the north, and one each in Lungi (close to Freetown), Bo in the
south and Kenema and Daru in the east. UNAMSIL is yet to set up others in
Kailahun in the east, Makeni in the north and Moyamba in the south, in
addition to Magburaka.

Disarmament is a central element of the July 1999 Lome Peace Agreement
signed by the government and all parties to the conflict. Article XVI of
the Agreement calls for the encampment, disarmament, demobilisation and
reintegration of ex-combatants, whose number is estimated at about 33,000
to 40,000.

SIERRA LEONE: More Zambian troops expected

Zambia has not sent its entire contingent of over 700 soldiers to Sierra
Leone, contrary to reports on Monday by news organisations, a source in
UNAMSIL's Public Information Office told IRIN on Wednesday. "So far, there
are 477 soldiers from Zambia in Sierra Leone awaiting deployment," he
said.

He said a first batch of 146 Zambian soldiers that arrived last week was
followed on Monday by a second which numbered 331. "The rest will be here
before the end of the month [April]," he said.

The UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) now has nearly 8,000 troops, he
said. Nigeria has the largest contingent: 3,183 troops divided into four
battalions. They are deployed in the Freetown area and nearby Lungi
international airport, Pepel and Tasso Island, as well as Port Loko and
Lunsar, both north of the capital, and Masiaka, which is east of Freetown.

Kenya has 827 soldiers deployed in the northern areas of Makeni and
Magburaka, while 776 Ghanaians are in Kenema, Daru and Mano junction in
the east. There are 775 Guineans, stationed in the southern areas of Bo,
Mile 91 and Moyamba.

The Indian contingent -- 1,655 soldiers -- is deployed in Daru, Kailahun
in the east, Lungi and Hastings, which is close to Freetown, while the 110
Jordanians, like the Zambians, are awaiting deployment.

As of 26 March, there were 259 military observers, but the UNAMSIL
official pointed out that the number could have gone up. "They come on
almost a daily basis from different countries," he said.
  
BURKINA FASO: Law on opposition parties adopted

Burkina Faso's parliament on Tuesday adopted a law governing the role and
place of opposition parties in the country's democratic process, the
official 'Sidwaya' daily reported in its 26 April edition.

The law, which was reproduced by Sidwaya, stipulates, among other things,
that opposition leaders or activists may not be penalised for their
political opinions "on condition that they respect the law" and that their
freedom of movement may not be curtailed except for reasons provided for
in existing laws.

The law grants opposition parties access to the state press in the same
conditions as parties belonging to the parliamentary majority -which has
104 of the 111 seats in the present legislature. It also stipulates that
they shall benefit in the same way as the majority parties from public
financing to participate in the country's political life.
 
BURKINA FASO: Students end strike

High school and university students in Burkina Faso decided on Tuesday to
resume classes after a two-week interruption, AFP quoted the Association
nationale des Etudiants burkinabe (ANEB) as announcing on Tuesday.
 
The government had closed schools on 13 April following demonstrations
marked by violence in Ouagadougou and other towns. The demonstrations
occurred during a general strike launched on 10 April by a group of
opposition parties, trade unions and NGOs known as 'Le Collectif' in
protest against the lack of progress in the investigations into the death
of Norbert Zongo, an independent journalist murdered in December 1998.

The government reopened the schools on 17 April, but secondary and
university students refused to attend classes unless students jailed
during the protests along with the main leaders of the Collectif were
released. ANEB decided at a general assembly to go back to classes after
the students, who had remained in custody even after the liberation of the
Collectif's leaders on 15 April, were finally freed, AFP reported.

CAMEROON: About 100 alleged secessionists arrested

About 100 alleged secessionists in Kumba, a major town in English-speaking
southeastern Cameroon have been detained by police since Friday, Radio
France Internationale reported on Tuesday. RFI quoted sources in the area
as saying that the arrests were aimed at "sabotaging" an action plan
conceived by the Southern Cameroon National Conference (SCNC).

They said the secessionist movement planned to occupy all the command
posts in English-speaking Cameroon and organise a series of demonstrations
in Buea, Limbe and Kumba, the main towns there. The police, gendamerie and
army are reportedly on the alert, and have erected checkpoints on the main
highways of the region, RFI said.

However, government officials denied the reports, saying that no
activities by either the SCNC or a Kumba-based secessionist movement had
been reported.

HEALTH: US $300-500 million pledged against malaria

The World Bank on Tuesday pledged between US $300 million and US $500
million towards the eradication of malaria, according to a statement from
the institution.

"We hope that the Roll Back Malaria partnership and the African leadership
will be instrumental in specifically creating a demand for World Bank
operations in this direction," World Bank Vice President for Human
Development Eduardo Doryan said.

"The resources can be deployed to increase the fight against malaria," he
told the 'African Summit on Roll Back Malaria', held on 25 April in Abuja,
Nigeria.

Malaria "traps the people of Africa in poverty," Nigerian President
Olusegun Obasanjo told the summit. "It stops adults from earning a living
and children from going to school. Each year families spend the equivalent
of several months earnings on malaria treatment and prevention."

He further noted that the disease claims 3,000 lives each day, and is
responsible for one in every four child deaths in Africa. "It does not
have to be like this," he said. "Malaria is preventable, treatable and
curable."

The summit, hosted by Nigeria, was convened by African leaders and
officials of the WHO, UNICEF, World Bank and UNDP.

TOGO: Ruling party, opposition resume dialogue

Togo's Mouvance Presidentielle (Presidential Bloc) and opposition on
Tuesday resumed discussions aimed at resolving the country's political
crisis, AFP reported.

The discussions, within a paritary committee formed to finetune agreements
the two sides reached in July 1999, focus essentially on the composition
of an independent electoral commission, according to AFP.

The political crisis developed in mid-1998, when the opposition contested
the result of presidential elections which it said were rigged. Subsequent
discussions between the two sides were suspended in January 2000.

However, on 12 April, the opposition said there was no longer any obstacle
to the resumption of the dialogue with the presidential bloc following the
promulgation of a new election law.

Abidjan, 26 April 2000; 19:22 GMT

[ENDS]



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