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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 841 (Monday 6 November)

CONTENTS:

SIERRA LEONE: Government and RUF to meet
SIERRA LEONE: Six shot and wounded in demonstration
SIERRA LEONE: UN hails proposal for coordinating mechanism
NIGERIA: Road accident claims dozens of lives
NIGER: Nationals repatriated from Libya
MAURITANIA: One dead in demonstration 
GUINEA: Yellow fever outbreak
COTE D'IVOIRE: Parliamentary seats increased by 30 percent
COTE D'IVOIRE: Number of parliamentarians increased
COTE D'IVOIRE: World Bank announces suspension of disbursements
GABON: UN rights committee makes recommendations
EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Independent weekly seized

SIERRA LEONE: Government and RUF to meet

Representatives of Sierra Leone's government and the Revolutionary United
Front (RUF) plan to meet on Thursday in the Nigerian capital, Abuja.

This would be the first high-level meeting between the two sides since the
RUF launched an offensive in May and captured UN peacekeepers, whom it later
released. 

"We are hoping and praying that this scheduled meeting will finally result
in the achievement of sustainable peace in our country so the government can
turn its efforts to eradicating poverty," news reports quoted President
Ahmed Tejan Kabbah as saying on Friday. 

He did not say who would represent the government and RUF at the meeting.
Delegates from the UN Mission in Sierra Leone and the Economic Community of
West African States (ECOWAS) are also scheduled to attend. 

"I believe ECOWAS must have had some indication from the RUF that they're
prepared to have genuine dialogue on the issues that are at stake, and that
is why they have convened this meeting," Information Minister Julius Spencer
told the BBC. "There is really no question of any further concessions" to
the RUF, he said. 

RUF spokesman Gibril Massakoi said political issues must be settled before
there is an agreement on disarmament. "What the government in Freetown is
persisting on is basically on the military side, to disarm and just do away
with the RUF, and forgetting that they have an obligation to fulfill under
the political sector," Massakoi told Radio France Internationale. 

Spencer said lessons had been learned in dealing with the RUF, which has
reneged on previous agreements. "Everybody, including the members of the
international community, has learned the lessons, and we don't believe that
anybody wants a repeat of what happened in the past," he said. 

SIERRA LEONE: Six shot and wounded in demonstration

Six people were shot and wounded on Saturday in a demonstration against
crime in the Sierra Leonean capital, Freetown, news reports said.

Demonstrators accused police of being behind armed robberies that occur
after curfew. The protest erupted after robbers raided a house and police
were slow to respond. The protesters erected barricades and clashed with
police, who fired teargas to disperse the crowd.

Gunshots were also fired, and at least six people were wounded, reports
quoted hospital sources as saying. Four others sustained various injuries.
Peacekeepers from the UN Mission in Sierra Leone intervened and broke up the
melee. 

SIERRA LEONE: UN hails proposal for coordinating mechanism

The UN Security Council on Friday expressed support for a proposal to
establish a continuous, UN-based mechanism to coordinate an overall strategy
for Sierra Leone.

The proposal was among the recommendations of a recent Security Council
mission to Sierra Leone. The coordination mechanism would bring together
Security Council members, the UN Secretariat, the Economic Community of West
African States, the Sierra Leonean government and troop contributors to the
UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL). 

The council said only a "comprehensive regional approach" could restore
security and stability in West Africa. The Sierra Leone conflict is linked
to fighting in neighbouring Liberia and Guinea. 

Representatives from Sierra Leone's government and the Revolutionary United
Front are to meet on Thursday for peace talks in the Nigerian capital,
Abuja. The Security Council said a ceasefire should only be pursued under
terms acceptable to the government of Sierra Leone. This includes the
withdrawal of the RUF from diamond-producing areas, proper provision for
disarmament and demobilisation of all non-governmental forces, and the
deployment of UNAMSIL throughout the country.   

The United Nations is finding it hard to get more countries to contribute
troops to UNAMSIL following the withdrawal of Indian and Jordanian forces. 

NIGERIA: Road accident claims dozens of lives

An accident at the weekend in southwest Nigeria involving up to 15 vehicles,
including a petrol tanker, claiming dozens of lives, news organisations
reported on Monday. 

A media source told IRIN that there had been no official death toll up to
mid-afternoon on Monday but newspapers were reporting about 150 dead. Most
of the victims were burned beyond recognition, 'The Guardian' of Lagos said.


The pile-up occurred on the Ife-Ibadan expressway when the petrol tanker
lost control and collided into a queue of vehicles that was blocking
traffic. At least 50 people injured in the accident were taken to the
Seventh Day Adventist Hospital and the Obafemi Awolowo University Teaching
Hospital. 

Witnesses said police were stopping vehicles to collect bribes, causing the
traffic jam, but authorities denied this, saying motorists were blocking the
road. A mob attacked police who arrived at the scene on Sunday to clear the
wreckage. 

Large traffic accidents are common in Nigeria, where poor roads and heavy
traffic make driving dangerous.

NIGER: Nationals repatriated from Libya

Niger has repatriated more than 2,000 of its nationals from Libya following
violent attacks in October against sub-Saharan African immigrants that
claimed several lives, AFP reported on Saturday. 

A Niger foreign ministry statement said that 2,168 people had been
evacuated, including 40 who had been injured in the clashes. 

Ghana, Nigeria and other countries have repatriated their nationals as well.
Reports differ about what sparked the violence. Some attributed it to
clashes between Nigerian and Libyan drug gangs, differences over a football
match, or an order from Libyan officials calling for a crackdown on the
employment of foreigners. 

Libya has attracted African immigrants not only because of its oil-rich
economy, but also because it has called for greater openness between African
countries.

MAURITANIA: One dead in demonstration 

A 55-year-old woman died on Saturday during a demonstration by hundreds of
youths in Mauritania's capital, Nouakchott, over the Israeli-Palestinian
crisis and the banning of a popular Mauritanian opposition party. 

The woman, who was a bystander, was apparently overcome by teargas, a human
rights worker in Nouakchott told IRIN on Monday. 

Protests have mounted in Mauritania in recent weeks over the Palestinian
issue and a government ban of the Union des forces democratiques - Ere
nouvelle (UFD-EN), led by former presidential candidate Ahmed Ould Daddah.
The government of President Maaouya Ould Sid'Ahmed Taya said it banned the
opposition party for fomenting violence and acting against state interests.

Mauritania, an Islamic state, established ties with Israel in 1999.

GUINEA: Yellow fever outbreak

Guinea is appealing for international help to eradicate yellow fever
following an outbreak that has claimed 24 lives since it was detected on 1
September, AFP quoted Guinea's health minister, Mamadou Saliou Diallo, as
saying on Saturday.

He said 75 percent of the 32 cases registered in a hospital in Mamou, some
280 km east of Conakry, had died, and that the government had taken
emergency measures since the disease was confirmed by the Pasteur Institute
in Dakar and Paris, where samples had been sent.

A yellow fever and diarrhoea epidemic claimed about 100 lives in Guinea last
year, AFP said, quoting medical sources.

COTE D'IVOIRE: Parliamentary seats increased by 30 percent

Malian President Alpha Konare said on Saturday he hoped the new leadership
in Cote d'Ivoire, where demonstrators forced out General Robert Guei on 25
October, will usher in a democratic and plural country.

Konare, who is also chairman of the Economic Community of West African
States (ECOWAS), said in a joint communique issued after a meeting with
Ivorian President Laurent Gbagbo that he hoped Cote d'Ivoire would
participate resolutely in efforts to achieve the common goal of African
integration.
 
Saturday's meeting in the town of Korhogo, northern Cote d'Ivoire, came a
little over a week after the anti-Guei demonstrations on 24-25 October and
ethnic, political and religious unrest on 26 October. More than 170 people
were killed.

The two presidents said they were "comforted by the measures taken by the
authorities and various sections of Ivorian society to restore calm and end
the violence". Konare urged Ivorians to "pursue their efforts to build
national unity and launch a constructive process of national reconciliation"

COTE D'IVOIRE: Number of parliamentarians increased

Cote d'Ivoire's government has increased the number of seats in parliament
from 174 to 225 ahead of legislative elections to be held on 10 December.
The decision, taken at an extraordinary cabinet meeting on Sunday, was based
on recommendations by the Conseil national electoral (CNE - national
electoral commission), Minister of the Interior and Decentralisation Boga
Doudou Emile said. The main criteria for attributing legislative seats are
the population size and area of the constituency concerned, the state-owned
'Fraternity Matin' daily reported.

COTE D'IVOIRE: World Bank announces suspension of disbursements

The World Bank announced on Monday that it recently informed Cote d'Ivoire's
government of its decision to suspend disbursements on ongoing operations in
the country due to outstanding debt service obligations.  

Such action is taken whenever payments by a borrowing member of the bank
fall into arrears beyond 60 days, the World Bank said in a news release. It
said the move had nothing to do with recent developments in the country.  

As of 30 October, Cote d'Ivoire's payments had fallen 60 days and totalled
approximately US $35.7 million.  

GABON: UN rights committee makes recommendations

The UN Human Rights Committee has deplored the fact that polygamy is still
practised in Gabon and recommended the review of legislation to guarantee
improved rights for women in the country.

The committee, which concluded its 70th session on Friday, singled out
Article 252 of the civil code, which provides for the obedience of a wife to
her husband. It said the article was not compatible with the International
Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, of which Gabon is a signatory.

Gabon's government has limited to four the number of wives a man can have.
In the past, a man could have up to 30 wives, the Gabonese delegation to the
rights meeting said. Women dominate the health and education sectors but
still face legal and cultural discrimination, particularly in rural areas.
Some women, however, hold high-ranking positions in the military and the
judiciary, the Gabonese delegation said.

In addition to abolishing polygamy, the committee recommended strengthening
the participation of women in Gabon's political, economic and social
sectors, and eradicating discrimination based on customary laws concerning
marriage, divorce and inheritance. 

Although women's issues were key on the agenda, the rights body also
reiterated its concern about the practice of imprisonment for unpaid debt,
discrimination against minorities and the exploitation of foreign children.
It recommended abolishing the Court for State Security, even though it was
no longer functioning; ending capital punishment; limiting pre-trial
detention to no more than 48 hours; ensuring that detainees have access to
lawyers; and eliminating exit visas for foreign workers. 

The committee welcomed the fact that individuals could directly lodge
complaints to the constitutional court, and that police were no longer part
of the military and were now under the interior ministry. 

EQUATORIAL GUINEA: Independent weekly confiscated

Hundreds of copies of the latest issue of an independent weekly, 'La
Opinion' were seized on Saturday by the authorities in Mongome, a town in
the east of Equatorial Guinea, AFP reports the director general of the
newspaper as saying.
  
The newspapers were confiscated on the order of the government's
representative in the district just as vendors were preparing to distribute
them. One of the vendors was dismissed because of his link to the 
newspaper, which the government sees as close to the opposition, Pedro
Nolasco, the director-general, said.

Abidjan, 6 November 2000; 17:01 GMT
[ENDS]


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