Date: Mon, 7 Aug 2000 13:05:59 +0000 (GMT)
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Subject: WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Update 776  [2000807]
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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 22-41-9339
e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ci

WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Update 776 (Monday 7 August)

CONTENTS:

SIERRA LEONE: Security Council extends UNAMSIL's mandate
GUINEA-BISSAU: Senegal reopens border
GHANA: World Bank to help fund food security drive
NIGERIA: Muslims want Sharia extended to south
NIGERIA: Abuja, Malabo sign cooperation agreements
NIGERIA: Militant youth free 165 hostages
COTE D'IVOIRE: Seven mutineers sentenced to 10 years in jail
MALI: UNCDF and UNDP support decentralisation

SIERRA LEONE: Security Council extends UNAMSIL's mandate

The UN Security Council on Friday unanimously approved a resolution to
extend the mandate of the UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL)  to 8
September.

It also agreed that UNAMSIL's military component "should be reinforced
through accelerated troop rotations [and] with further aviation and
maritime assets, a strengthened force reserve, upgraded communications and
specialist combat and logistic support assets", the UN reported.

The Council said that for UNAMSIL to achieve its objectives it would need
fully equipped peacekeeping units with the required capabilities and the
commitment to implement the mandate in full. It asked UN Secretary-General
Kofi Annan to report to it as soon as possible with recommendations for
restructuring and strengthening the mission.

British Ambassador to the UN Jeremy Greenstock told reporters after the
resolution had been passed that the Council would continue reinforcing
UNAMSIL's capability to deal with the Revolutionary United Front until the
rebels realised that the military option was "pointless".

UNAMSIL's authorised strength is 13,000. In a May report, UN
Secretary-General Kofi Annan recommended increasing it to 16,500.

The Security Council also discussed the possibility of sending a mission
to Sierra Leone later in the year, while a draft resolution on the trial
of Sierra Leoneans accused of violating international humanitarian law is
to be debated on Thursday.

GUINEA-BISSAU: Senegal reopens border

Guinea-Bissau and Senegal reopened their border on Saturday after
ministerial-level negotiations in which they also vowed to stop armed
bands from raiding communities in the area, the state-owned `Le Soleil'
newspaper in Dakar reported.

Delegations from the two countries, headed by their interior ministers,
Mamadou Niang of Senegal and Arthur Sanha of Guinea-Bissau, also created a
joint commission to identify and recover the possessions of Senegalese
border communities stolen by armed bandits who, villagers said, came from
Guinea-Bissau. The villagers at Fouladou, 25 km north of the frontier,
closed the border for nearly one month to try to prevent the raids. The
measure raised tension between the two countries and caused a fuel and
food shortage in Guinea-Bissau, much of whose imports pass through
Senegal.

The two countries have also agreed that their interior ministers will meet
every three months and the governors of border regions every two months to
review the situation and help build a climate of confidence.

"A new high commission has been created in Guinea-Bissau to monitor and
secure the border," Niang told the media. "As soon as we are informed of
its composition, we will also create a similar body in Senegal."

GHANA: World Bank to help fund food security drive

The World Bank has approved a credit of US $67 million for Ghana's
Agricultural Services Subsector Investment Project, aimed at increasing
agricultural productivity and incomes, thus reducing rural poverty. The
aims of the project also include improving food security and providing the
basis for faster and environmentally sustainable economic growth.

Rural dwellers represent 63 percent of Ghana's population and agriculture
accounts for 38 percent of its gross domestic product. Some 84 percent of
Ghana's poor live in the countryside, where the poverty rate stands at 52
percent compared to 23 percent in towns, the World Bank said.

NIGERIA: Muslims want Sharia extended to south

Prominent northern Muslim scholars in Nigeria say they want to meet with
governors of southwestern states with large Muslim populations - Lagos,
Oyo, Osun and Ogun - to discuss prospects for introducing Sharia in their
areas, `The Guardian', a Lagos daily, reported on Monday.

The Supreme Council for Sharia in Nigeria took this decision at a recent
convention attended by delegates from 24 states, some of them from the
southwest.

"Nigeria is ready for Sharia ... So, I assure you all that the Supreme
Council for Sharia in Nigeria will do everything in its power to ensure
that Sharia is established in every part of this country where the
population wants it," Ibrahim Datti Ahmad, president of the council, told
reporters.

Meanwhile, the bishop of Owo Anglican Diocese, the Reverend Adedayo
Oladunjoye, asked the federal government to investigate reports that some
Arab countries had promised US $800 million to any Nigerian state that
adopted Sharia and another US$ 10 million to any organisation that
pressured a state to adopt the legal system. Oladunjoye called on the
government to break diplomatic relations with such countries, `The
Guardian' said.

"We need a legal system that will be devoid of religious dictation and as
a mark of punishment to such states that have adopted Sharia law, the
Federal government should withhold its subvention for a whole year," the
daily quoted him as saying.

NIGERIA: Abuja, Malabo sign cooperation agreements

Equatorial Guinea and Nigeria have signed air, fishing and investment
agreements designed to strengthen cooperation in an increasingly
competitive international environment, `The Guardian' reported on Friday.

In a statement made available to reporters on Thursday in Abuja, Nigeria's
government said the agreements were concluded at a recent meeting of a
bilateral commission in Malabo, the Equato-Guinean capital. The commission
also signed a protocol on cultural, educational and scientific cooperation
as well as a treaty on the abolition of visas.

The two countries agreed to implement earlier agreements on cooperation in
merchant shipping and defence, and on having Nigeria's Technical Aid Corps
serve in Equatorial Guinea.

NIGERIA: Militant youth free 165 hostages

Militant youths in the Niger Delta have released 165 oil workers they had
held hostage on two drilling rigs belonging to Royal Dutch/Shell,
according to news reports quoting company officials.

They said the hostages - 145 Nigerians, seven US citizens, five British
and eight Lebanese and Australians - were seized on their work platforms
on 31 July by 30 heavily armed youths demanding work at the catering and
security firms contracted by Shell, according to AFP.

The workers were employed by Shell and its Nigerian subsidiary, the Shell
Petroleum Development Corporation, a Houston-based drilling contractor,
Mallard Bay and NGL, a local firm.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Seven mutineers sentenced to 10 years in jail

Seven soldiers have been condemned to 10 years in prison for revolt,
disobedience and looting during the 4-5 July army mutiny in Cote d'Ivoire,
the state daily 'Fraternite Matin' reported on Saturday. An eighth was
acquitted.

The seven, all aged around 30, were found guilty of taking up arms and
looting banks and businesses in the central town of Bouake, resulting in
losses estimated at about 2 billion CFA francs (US $2,800,000), the daily
said. They were the first of a group of 45 suspected mutineers, out of a
total of 51, whose trial is expected to last about three weeks,

The remaining six suspects, all colonels, are to be tried for violating
state security, local newspapers reported.

MALI: UNCDF and UNDP support decentralisation

A US $11.4-million Local Development Fund to encourage decentralisation
efforts in Mali and to expand basic services and infrastructure in poor
communities has been approved by the Malian government, the UN Capital
Development Fund (UNCDF) and the UN Development Programme (UNDP).

The project seeks to improve local health centres, schools, agricultural
extension services and natural resource management, the UNDP reported on
Thursday. It is also expected to help newly elected authorities acquire
the skills needed to plan local development, and encourage community
participation in decision-making and developement projects. Some 107
communes in Mali, home to more than 1.3 million people, are expected to
benefit from the initiative, the UNDP said.

At the national level the project will provide technical support to the
Directorate of Local Government, the government body responsible for
strengthening Mali's decentralisation process.

Abidjan,7 August 2000; 16:31 GMT

[ENDS]

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