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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 844 (Thursday 9 November)

CONTENTS:

MALI: African ministers to meet on small arms
LIBERIA: Presidential decision angers parliamentarians 
NIGERIA: Agreements with France 
NIGER: Police break up demonstration
SIERRA LEONE: Russia bans import of uncut diamonds
COTE D'IVOIRE: President announces truth and reconciliation forum
COTE D'IVOIRE: Generals arrested

MALI: African ministers to meet on small arms

ABIDJAN, 8 November (IRIN) - African foreign ministers are to meet in Bamako
on 27-30 November to come up with a common position on small arms, an expert
with the Togo-based UN Centre for Peace and Disarmament in Africa told IRIN
on Thursday.

Their position will be presented in March 2001 at the UN Conference on Small
Arms, the disarmament expert, Napoleon Abdulai, said.

Bamako is also the venue of another meeting on the issue. Delegates from
Mali's army and civil society, neighbouring countries, Canada and France are
participating this week in a debate aimed at working out a national policy
to retrieve small arms, PANA reported on Wednesday. 

The chairman of a national commission for the control of the proliferation
of light weapons, Colonel Sirakoro Sangare, said the involvement of the
public was essential to success in retrieving the arms. The Tuareg rebellion
that erupted in Mali in 1990 and the ousting of President Moussa Traore
following a popular uprising in 1991 contributed to the large number of
weapons in the country.

There are an estimated eight million light arms circulating in West Africa,
including countries such as Mali, Sierra Leone, Liberia, Guinea and
Guinea-Bissau, Abdulai said.

He said Mali had been at the forefront of fighting the proliferation of
small arms since 1992, with the support of the United Nations. Mali also
hosts the Programme for the Coordination and Assistance for Security and
Development, which is linked to UNDP. It aims to support the moratorium on
the import, exploitation and manufacture of light weapons in West Africa,
which the Economic Community of West African States signed in October 1998. 
 
LIBERIA: Presidential decision angers parliamentarians 

Members of Liberia's House of Representatives have accused President Charles
Taylor of attempting to run the government singlehandedly and of trying to
breach the checks and balances the constitution contains, PANA reported.

They were reacting to a presidential circular on Tuesday which barred
ministers and other senior government officials from appearing before
parliament unless cleared by Taylor. The circular coincided with the failure
of the managing director of the Forestry Development Authority, Demetrious
Bob Taylor, to appear in parliament. 

It was the second time Taylor, a cousin of the president, had disregarded a
summons from the lawmakers, PANA reported.

Bob Taylor is alleged to have altered and inserted provisions in a draft
Forestry Act before publishing it in the form of handbills without making
any reference to the House of Representatives. The foreign ministry is
responsible for publishing into handbills all legislation approved by the
president. However, it denied knowledge of the publication.

The presidential circular said the restriction was to ensure ''comprehensive
responses'' and ''enhance and preserve the co-operation and co-ordination
between the two branches of government''. However, it angered legislators.
Opposition parliamentarian David Kotie charged that the ''main aim of the
executive is to return this country to a one-party state''.

NIGERIA: Agreements with France 

The Agence francaise de developpement (ADF) is to provide Nigeria with about
US $2 million for feasibility studies on job-creation projects under one of
two agreements signed on Wednesday by presidential economic adviser Philip
Asiodu and ADF Director-General Antoine Pouillieute, AFP reported.

The second agreement is a broad financing accord, the French news agency
said.

The AFD, established in 1941, provides financial support for developmental
activities in many developing countries, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa.
It has been active in Francophone West Africa since the early 
1960s and in Ghana for the past 15 years, AFP reported.

NIGER: Police break up demonstration

Police in Niger used teargas and batons on Wednesday to break up a
demonstration by several hundred Muslims who were protesting against a
fashion show set to open on Friday just outside the capital, Niamey, reports
said. 

A group calling itself the Muslim Brotherhood said the International African
Fashion Festival, to be held on 10-13 November, was ''satanic''. The crowd
erected barricades, destroyed state lottery kiosks and night clubs, and
harassed women wearing Western attire, the reports said. 

The festival, whose motto is 'Culture, Peace and Development', aims to raise
funds for Niger's poverty eradication project. Opponents say the show will
lead to debauchery, prostitution and AIDS. 

SIERRA LEONE: Russia bans import of uncut diamonds

Russian President Vladimir Putin has signed a decree banning the import or
transit of uncut diamonds from Sierra Leone into the Russian Federation,
ITAR-TASS news agency reported on Thursday. 

The report said the decree was aimed at implementing measures envisaged by
the July UN Security Council resolution against the import of illegal
diamonds from Sierra Leone. The Russian decree will take effect on 17
November and remain in force until 5 January, 2002, the report said. 

Illegal exports of diamonds from Sierra Leone have been used to finance the
Revolutionary United Front's war against the Sierra Leonean government. 

COTE D'IVOIRE: President promises truth and reconciliation forum

Cote d'Ivoire's president, Laurent Gbagbo, announced on Thursday that a
National Forum for Truth, Repentance, Reconciliation and Peace would be
established to heal the wounds caused by bloody violence that followed
presidential elections held on 22 October.

Gbagbo made the announcement at a ceremony commemorating the some 200 people
who died. "I want my country to be a civilised and respected country," he
said, promising that the state would leave no stone unturned in
investigating last month's violence. He added that any group that wanted to
help the state to investigate the killings would be allowed to do so.

The unrest started on 24 October when military leader General Robert Guei
claimed victory in the election, in which there were five candidates. Many
people were killed by members of the armed forces as popular protests forced
Guei to step down. Gbagbo was sworn in as president on 15 Oct, after his
victory at the poll was confirmed by the electoral commission. 

However, the opposition Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR) party, whose
presidential candidate was one of 14 disqualified by the Supreme Court,
demonstrated on 25 and 26 October to press demands for new elections. Some
people were killed in clashes between supporters of rival parties. RDR
supporters and people from northern Cote d'Ivoire, where the RDR draws much
of its support, were reportedly attacked, detained and killed by gendarmes.

Gbagbo, who reiterated that no new presidential elections would be held,
said Thursday's commemoration was for all the people who died on 24-26
October. However, he said: "The folly which sent the young people onto the
streets after the inauguration is the same folly which caused the young
people to be shot at before the inauguration."

He also warned unnamed "plotters" that the authorities knew of their
activities and called on them to "stop plotting".

COTE D'IVOIRE: Generals arrested

Two generals, ex-members of the former ruling junta have been arrested in
connection with an alleged assassination attempt against General Robert
Guei, Radio France Internationale (RFI) reported on Wednesday.

Generals Abdoulaye Coulibaly and Lassana Palenfo, considered close to the
opposition Rassemblement des Republicains (RDR), had gone into hiding after
Guei accused them of organising an attack on his home on 18 September. They
resurfaced in early November, after popular protests forced Guei from power.
The military leader had claimed victory in presidential elections held on 22
October.

The generals' lawyers said they would file on Friday for their release, AFP
reported.

//CORRECTION on Update 842. In item titled 'GHANA: Clashes between rival
parties reported' please note that paragraph two should read: 

<< Four cars had their windscreens smashed during the clashes between
supporters of the opposition New Patriotic Party and the ruling National
Democratic Congress ... >> 

Abidjan, 9 November 2000; 18:05 GMT

[ENDS]  
 
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