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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 819 (Thursday 5 October)	

CONTENTS: 

COTE D'IVOIRE: Military declares state of emergency, curfew
COTE D'IVOIRE: Four killed in explosion
COTE D'IVOIRE: US condemns political intimidation
GUINEA: Pope appeals for end of violence 
GUINEA: UNHCR appeals for funds to move refugees
LIBERIA: UN team probes arms-for-diamonds allegations
SIERRA LEONE: Refugees returning from Liberia
WEST AFRICA: Ghanaian officials assess conditions in Libya

COTE D'IVOIRE: Military declares state of emergency, curfew
 
A nationwide state of emergency and curfew have been
declared for four days beginning Friday, Minister of Information Henri Cesar
Sama announced on state-owned television.

The curfew will apply Friday through Monday from 21:00 to 0600 GMT and the
state of emergency from Friday at 06:00 to Monday at 18:00 GMT. Sama said
the measure was taken by the ruling Comite national de salut public 
to ensure a smooth run-up to the presidential election due on 22 October. 

[For full story see item 'COTE D'IVOIRE: Military junta declares state of
emergency, curfew']

COTE D'IVOIRE: Four killed in explosion

An explosion ripped through an Abidjan bus station on Wednesday killing four
people and wounding seven others, according to local news reports. 

All the victims were nationals of Niger, aged between 20 years and 42 years,
said Captain Kouakou Konan of the military firefighting group, according to
the state-owned 'Fraternity-Matin' newspaper.

While state television described the device as a bomb, the police are
calling the incident an explosion, which the Gendarmerie is investigating.  

The explosion on the premises of the company Transport Sana Rasmane in the
suburb of Adjame occurred around 16:OO GMT while passengers were waiting to
board for the 1,450-km drive to the Niger border, one of the company's
drivers told IRIN on Thursday. He was changing a tyre opposite the location
when he heard the explosion. 

[For full story see item titled 'COTE D'IVOIRE: Four killed in explosion']

COTE D'IVOIRE: US condemns political intimidation

The US government condemned on Wednesday what it said was the Ivorian
government's attempt to intimidate the political parties ahead of an
announcement on the eligibility of presidential candidates that is to be
made by the Constitutional Chamber of the Supreme Court.

"We condemn the attempted kidnapping on October 3 of Mrs. Alassane
(Dominique) Ouattara, spouse of Republican Rally (RDR) presidential
candidate Alassane Ouattara, which occurred in broad daylight and was
witnessed by foreign diplomats," Philip Reeker, the deputy State Department
spokesman, said in Washington on Wednesday.

At the time, Ivorian government spokesman Henri Cesar Sama denied the kidnap
allegation. He said candidate Ouattara's seven bodyguards were arrested
because the government was trying to dismantle a plan to destabilise the
country.  

Reeker also said the US was "deeply disturbed" by the travel ban on Ivorian
political leaders, which is in contravention of the constitution approved by
referendum on 23 and 24 July.

"We note that in spite of having received permission from General Guei
himself to travel, gendarmes prevented RDR Secretary-General Henriette Dagri
Diabate from leaving the country on October 3," Reeker said.
 
Diabate had been given clearance to visit her sick husband in an American
hospital near Paris.

GUINEA: Pope appeals for end of violence 

Pope John Paul II has appealed for an end to violence in Guinea, saying he
was particularly disturbed by attacks on Roman Catholic missionaries and
refugees, the BBC reported.

"For weeks, disturbing reports have been received of bloody attacks in
Guinea against the local population and against refugees from Liberia and
Sierra Leone," the BBC, on Wednesday, quoted him as saying. "I ask in the
name of God that the perpetrators desist from such acts of violence and
respect the rights of all, in particular those who are refugees and who are
already living in a precarious situation." 

Cross-border attacks by armed men in Liberia and Sierra Leone have claimed
at least 200 lives in the past month. Two Roman Catholic missionaries were
abducted by fighters from Sierra Leone in early September. 

GUINEA: UNHCR appeals for funds to move refugees

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in Guinea said on Thursday
that it will cost US $13.3 million dollars was needed to move 125,000
refugees from the volatile border area to a site further inland to guarantee
their safety. 

"It's time now to act because the longer the refugees stay in the border
region the more they will be at risk," Chris Ache, UNHCR's resident
representative in Conakry, told IRIN. 

He said the government of President Lansana Conte wanted UNHCR to move the
refugees but had not yet approved a site. Guinea hosts nearly 500,000
refugees from Liberia and Sierra Leone who are at increasing risk not only
from cross-border attacks by armed men from their own countries, but also
from Guineans who resent their presence. 

It has become more difficult for UNHCR and other humanitarian agencies to
assist the refugees because of insecurity on the border. Guinean officials
say at least 200 people have been killed in the past month.

"For the time being, by and large, the refugees are not being assisted the
way they should be," Ache said. 
	
LIBERIA: UN team probes arms-for-diamonds allegations

A team of UN experts is in Liberia to investigate charges that the
government of President Charles Taylor has been involved in smuggling
diamonds from Sierra Leone in exchange for providing weapons to the
Revolutionary United Front. 

The team was appointed by UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan to look into
sanctions violations in Sierra Leone, including selling diamonds in exchange
for weapons, a UN source in Monrovia told IRIN on Thursday. 

The team arrived on Wednesday and is scheduled to meet with the ministers of
defence, finance, trade and commerce and foreign affairs. Before leaving on
Friday, team members are also to meet with business leaders, opposition
politicians, newspaper editors, non-governmental organizations, diplomats
and Roman Catholic Archbishop Michael Francis. No meeting is scheduled with
President Taylor. 

[For full story see item 'LIBERIA: UN team probes arms-for-diamonds
allegations']

SIERRA LEONE: Refugees returning from Liberia

Sierra Leonean refugees in Liberia have continued to return home in small
numbers, mainly to the eastern and southern provinces, adding to the growing
IDP populations in places such as Kenema and Daru, according to a recent
situation report by the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
(OCHA).

It said humanitarian agencies continue to make efforts to expand facilities
in the province to address overcrowding in the towns and IDP camps. 

"While the situation is currently under control in Kenema, with work well
advanced on the expansion of the Gofor camp, it is clear that the combined
resources of agencies in the area will not be able to cope with a
significant influx of refugee returnees or IDPs into Kenema at this time,"
the report said. 

It cited UNHCR as saying that an average of 4-5 families were returning from
Liberia each week and the numbers appear to be increasing. The most recent
arrivals are reportedly crossing the border to the Joru area, south of
Kenema. There are currently no humanitarian agencies operational in Joru. 

It is likely that the returnees may go to Kenema, as most of Kailahun
District, which is a major zone of return, remains under control of the
Revolutionary United Front, the report said. 

WEST AFRICA: Ghanaian officials assess conditions in Libya

A team of Ghanaian officials has gone to Tripoli, Libya, on a fact-finding
mission following recent clashes between Libyans and West African
immigrants, PANA reported. 

The team, drawn from parliament, the Immigration Service, the Ministry of
Foreign Affairs, the Ghana News Agency and the armed forces, are
investigating whether Ghanaian victims of the attacks should be flown home.

Up to 2,000 Ghanaians were embroiled in the violence, which broke out during
the last week of September. Repatriation of thousands of Nigerians, who were
reportedly residing illegally in Libya, has begun. An initial group of 700
arrived in Lagos on Monday and Tuesday. A Nigerian presidential spokesman,
Doyin Okupe, said a number of them had been engaged in possible criminal
activity. 

Libyan authorities have said the attacks were triggered by differences
between Nigerian and Libyan drug gangs. 

An unconfirmed number of Gambians were injured in the clashes, according to
the consul general at the Gambian Embassy in Libya. "Some of our citizens
were attacked in streets and others in their residences, stabbed with
knives, their money seized, some beaten with sticks and their properties
were looted," PANA quoted the consul as saying on Wednesday. 

[ENDS]

Abidjan, 5 October 2000; 18:15 GMT

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Desk): +225-22-41-9339; e-mail: irin-wa@irin.ci]  


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