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Wednesday 17 November 2004 |
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IRIN-WA Weekly 248 covering 23-29 October 2004[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]CONTENTS: LIBERIA: Religious riots erupt in Monrovia, curfew imposed Religious riots between Christians and Muslims erupted in the Liberian capital Monrovia on Thursday night and continued on Friday morning until UN peacekeeping troops restored order and the government imposed an indefinite curfew. Reuters reported that at least four people had been killed and 17 injured. Gyude Bryant, in a radio broadcast on Friday morning said that he was imposing an indefinite curfew and everybody should stay at home. Similar incidents were reported in the towns of Kakata, a town 50 km northeast of Monrovia, in Liberia's second city Buchanan, 120 km southeast of Liberia, and Ganta, on the northern frontier with Guinea. Full report NIGERIA-SUDAN: Darfur talks bogged down by bickering over agenda The peace talks that resumed on Monday between the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA), one of two rebel movements represented in the Nigerian capital Abuja, and the Sudanese Government broke up on Tuesday as both sides failed to agree on an agenda for resuming formal peace negotiations. The talks mediated by the African Union (AU) were due to resume on Wednesday, but the Sudanese Liberation Army (SLA) and its allies, the Justice and Equity Movement (JEM) said they had asked for more time to respond to political proposals tabled by mediators. Full report SENEGAL: Nearly 200 people catch cholera in Dakar Nearly 200 cases of cholera have been confirmed in the Senegalese capital Dakar since 11 October, but so far only two people have died, government doctors said on Friday. Doctor Pape Salif Sow, the head of the infectious diseases department at Fann university teaching hospital, said 199 cholera cases had been reported since 11 October. The two fatalities were both people who were in an advanced stage of the illness when they were brought to hospital in the early days of the outbreak, he told IRIN. Full report COTE D'IVOIRE: Rebels declare state of emergency, warn of return to war The rebel movement which controls the northern half of Cote d'Ivoire declared a state of emergency on Thursday and warned that the West African country was heading back towards an early resumption of civil war. "Disarmament is no longer a live issue, because the war isn't over yet. It is going to resume shortly," rebel leader Guillaume Soro told a press conference in Bouake, the rebel capital in central Cote d'Ivoire. He also indicated that he had ordered its seven ministers in Cote d€™Ivoire broad-based government of national reconciliation to return to Bouake immediately for consultations. Full report CAMEROON: Biya officially declared winner of presidential election President Paul Biya was officially declared the winner of Cameroon's presidential election on Monday, but with a lower percentage of the vote than the government had originally claimed. The Supreme Court, sitting as the Constitutional Council, declared the 71-year-old head of state re-elected for a further seven-year term with 70.92 percent of the vote. That was slightly less than the 75.24 percent claimed by the Interior Ministry, when preliminary results were issued last week. Full report GUINEA-BISSAU: Government names new military chiefs chosen by mutineers The elected government of Guinea-Bissau named a new set of interim military commanders on Thursday following an army mutiny earlier this month. General Tagme Na Wai, a former guerrilla who fought in the PAIGC's bush war against Portuguese colonial rule from 1963 to 1974, was named as chief of staff of the armed forces. The new chief of staff of the army is former deputy head of the army Brigadier Armindo Gomes. The government appointed Captain Jose Americo Bobo Natchoto as the new interim chief of staff of the navy. The new chief of staff of the air force was named as Brigadier Antonio Gomes, a pilot. A government decree, read out over local radio stations, said the new military commanders would serve in an interim capacity until a new elected president takes office in this small West African country. Full report CHAD-SUDAN: UNHCR warns of dwindling water supplies in overcrowded camps The United Nations refugee agency UNHCR has warned that a large refugee camp in eastern Chad is fast running out of water, and that chronic water shortages in the arid region are hampering the establishment of new camps to house 200,000 people who have fled the conflict in nearby Darfur. According to Eduardo Cue, the UNHCR spokesman in eastern Chad, a rapid fall in the water table at Iridimi refugee camp meant that the boreholes serving its 15,000 inhabitants were no longer able to keep up with demand. As a result, the daily water ration issued to each refugee had been cut back sharply to preserve supplies. Full report [ENDS]
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