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IRIN Africa | West Africa | WEST AFRICA | WEST AFRICA: IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 313 covering 14-20 January 2006 | Children, Democracy, Early Warning, Economy, Education, Environment, Food Security, Gender issues, Health, HIV AIDS, Human Rights, Natural Disasters, Peace Security, Refugees IDPs, Other | Weekly

Tuesday 21 February 2006


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IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 313 covering 14-20 January 2006

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

CONTENTS:

COTE D IVOIRE: Calm returns after four days of riots against UN, French peacekeepers
LIBERIA: Africa’s first female president vows to deliver a better future
CHAD: Rebels admit ‘friendly’ ties with Sudan but deny receiving support
NIGERIA: Militants threaten to cripple oil exports if demands not met
BENIN: Citizens willing to dig into own pockets to fund election
LIBERIA: Recruitment drive for new army kicks off
WEST AFRICA: China tours region to boost strategic ties
SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Foreign minister resigns over diversion of foreign aid

COTE D IVOIRE: Calm returns after four days of riots against UN, French peacekeepers

Business resumed as usual with cars and taxis back on the streets of Cote d’Ivoire on Friday after protesters demanding the departure of UN and French peace troops called an end to four days of riots by lifting roadblocks and going home.

Life returned to normal in the western towns of Daloa in the west and the southwestern port city of San Pedro too, residents said.

Youths loyal to President Laurent Gbagbo had packed up and left the entrance to the UN Mission headquarters building, said UN military spokesman Gilles Combarieu.

Thousands of members of the Young Patriots movement loyal to Gbagbo camped outside the hillside hotel used as UN HQ this week, pelting the building with stones and tearing down the outer fence.

“Life returned to normal last night around 8 p.m,” Combarieu said. “As soon as the word was given, they left very, very quickly.” he said.

On Thursday evening, as the UN Security Council met in New York to discuss the situation in Cote d’Ivoire, Young Patriots leader Charles Ble Goude told followers to dismantle barricades that had snagged roads across the country’s economic capital Abidjan since the beginning of the week.

“We hereby wish to appeal to our friends in the various districts to remove the barriers,” said Ble Goude on Ivorian radio.

But after attacks on UN vehicles, compounds and offices across southern Cote d’Ivoire, one UN official told IRIN staff were still waiting for the green light to leave their homes or use UN vehicles.

Full report

[Tensions ease as Young Patriots call end to anti-UN protests]
[Anti-UN protesters refuse to budge despite president’s plea for calm]
[Five killed, peacekeepers beat retreat on third day of anti-UN protests]
[Five dead in clashes with UN peacekeepers in “Wild West”]
[Anti-UN protests threaten fragile peace process]
[Protests over peace plan bring Abidjan to standstill]

[Top of the Page]

LIBERIA: Africa’s first female president vows to deliver a better future

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf placed her hand on the bible and took the oath of office as Liberia’s and Africa’s first female president on Monday, promising peace and restoration for the war-torn nation.

Sirleaf told the largest gathering of regional leaders and international dignitaries to grace the capital since war broke out in 1989 that Liberians must work together to put 14 years of conflict behind them.

“It is time for us to come together to heal and rebuild our nation…we must put Liberians back to work again and we must put our economy and financial house in order,” said 67-year-old Sirleaf.

US first lady Laura Bush and US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice were among the 1000-strong audience attending Sirleaf’s inauguration as Liberia’s 23rd president in the parliament courtyard.

Sirleaf whipped retired international soccer star George Weah into second place to become Liberia’s peacetime president after polls conducted late last year under the watchful eye of 15,000 UN peacekeepers.

Allegations of fraud from the Weah camp initially clouded Sirleaf’s victory until regional heavyweights urged the football legend to acquiesce.

Sirleaf has promised rapid, tangible action for Liberia’s war-tired population including restoring electricity to the capital within 150 days.

Corruption will be another key battleground for the former World Bank official.

“Corruption under my administration will be the major public enemy, we will confront it, and we will fight it,” said Sirleaf, who was dressed in cream with a matching traditional head-wrap.

And news that all officials appointed to her new government will have to declare their assets before taking office was met with cheers.

Full report

[LIBERIA: Sirleaf unveils first members of new peacetime government]
[LIBERIA: A chronology of 25 years of conflict and turmoil]

[Top of the Page]

CHAD: Rebels admit ‘friendly’ ties with Sudan but deny receiving support

A Chadian rebel leader on Wednesday said insurgents seeking to oust President Idriss Deby have ‘friendly’ relations with Sudan and have met on Sudanese soil, but are receiving no arms or other assistance from Khartoum, as charged by N’Djamena.

Abdelwahid Aboud Makaye, a leader of the newly formed United Front for Change and Democracy (FUC), said in an interview with Radio France Internationale that some meetings sealing the group’s formation in late December were held in El Geneina in Darfur, western Sudan.

But he noted that this was in line with a political tradition between the two neighbours under which successive Chadian rebellions had seized power with some degree of support from Khartoum.

“FUC’s relations with the Sudanese government are friendly - very close,” he said. “But this is not to say that the rebels are in any way manipulated by Khartoum.”

Chad and Sudan, both facing armed rebels on the home front, have long accused each other of backing dissidents.

Full report

A general strike also added to discontent in Chad this week – their main complaint the non-payment of civil servant wages and pensions.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

NIGERIA: Militants threaten to cripple oil exports if demands not met

Ethnic Ijaw militants claiming responsibility for a spate of attacks on oil facilities in Nigeria’s Niger Delta have threatened new raids to cripple the country’s oil exports if demands to free detained leaders are not met within 48 hours.

Speaking by telephone from an undisclosed location on Tuesday, a spokesman for a militant group told IRIN they would hold on to four foreign oil workers taken hostage last week failing the release of militia leader Moujahid Dokubo-Asari, who is in government custody pending trial for treason.

The oil workers were kidnapped last Wednesday in a raid on an offshore oil platform run by Royal Dutch Shell in the Niger Delta region.

In addition to recent attacks on pipelines that triggered cuts in Nigeria’s oil exports, the militants claimed Sunday’s attack of Shell’s Benisede flow station in which one oil worker was killed. The assault forced the company to evacuate four platforms in the delta swamps.

“We maintain our demands that they should free Dokubo-Asari and other Ijaw leaders in detention in 48 hours,” Brutus Etikpaden, who claims leadership of the new Movement for Emancipation of Niger Delta (MEND), told IRIN by phone.

“Otherwise we’re going to attack oil installations and stop oil exports from Nigeria,” he added.

Full report

[NIGERIA: Shell evacuates oil platforms after fresh attacks]

[Top of the Page]

BENIN: Citizens willing to dig into own pockets to fund election

Amid worries that a cash crunch could delay Benin’s presidential elections set for March, trade unions, concerned individuals and parties across the political spectrum are digging into their own pockets to help fund the poll.

One of the first to offer a donation was Albert Tevoedjre, Beninese former head of the UN Mission in Cote d’Ivoire, who during a TV show this month promised to contribute a million CFA francs (US $200,000) for a special account launched by a group of NGOs called the Republican Coalition for Citizens’ Action (CRAC).

“This is a public action to save democracy,” said Reckya Madougou, from an NGO involved in the coalition.

And as CRAC launched its three-million CFA franc (US $600,000) election support fund, 13 political parties from across the spectrum set up their own coalition entitled “The Collective of Political Parties In Favour of Holding the Presidential Election on Schedule.”

“Benin’s democracy is in danger,” said Sylvain Akindes of the Alliance for Democracy and Progress, which is close to President Mathieu Kerekou. “Benin’s future is at stake.”

The president’s second term as head of state is set to expire at the beginning of April and he has promised to respect the constitution by not seeking a third mandate.

But government claims late last year of a funding shortage for the elections fuelled fears that the president would put off the vote. Even trade unions joined the pro-election fight, with a newly formed teachers’ federation this month adding the following statement to their charter:

“We are ready to go to prison to press our demands and to ensure the elections are held on schedule.”

Full report

[Top of the Page]

LIBERIA: Recruitment drive for new army kicks off

Queues of hundreds of young wannabe soldiers began forming from early morning on Wednesday as authorities kicked off a countrywide recruitment drive for Liberia’s new national army.

Men and women aged over 18 massed at a former military barracks in Monrovia to register to join the first national force to be set up, with US help, after 14 years of civil conflict.

But before signing up, successful applicants will have to show they have a clean human rights record and minimum education.

Liberia's 2003 peace accord, enshrined by this week’s swearing-in of the country’s first post-war head of state, President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, called for the restructuring of the armed forces, which fell into disarray after the start of civil war in December 1989.

In 2003, the US government pledged US $35 million to recruit and train the new military force of 2,000 men and women to be recruited and trained by Dyncorp, a US-based company. Liberia had originally planned a 4,000-strong army but lack of funds forced a scale-back earlier this year.

DynCorp, which specialises in security and aircraft maintenance services, has been hired over the past three years by the US government to train new police forces in Afghanistan and Iraq.

The firm said on Wednesday that the army would comprise new recruits and former soldiers, but that volunteers would have to go through a vetting process, including having completed minimum secondary education requirements and being free of human rights abuses.

A Dyncorp statement said any allegation raised by the public against an applicant would be thoroughly investigated.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

WEST AFRICA: China tours region to boost strategic ties

China’s foreign minister this week wound up a tour of West Africa, sealing deals and promising millions of dollars for the region, where the economic powerhouse has been increasingly active in recent years.

Over eight days Li Zhaoxing visited Cape Verde, then Senegal, Mali, Liberia and Nigeria - armed with a new ‘win-win’ Africa policy aimed at reinforcing economic and diplomatic links with the continent, where China’s trade has quadrupled over the past five years.

The new strategic plan has been embraced by African political and economic leaders who see in the superpower’s own development experience clear lessons for the continent.

“Africa has everything to gain in working with the country that is the driving force of the world economy,” said Moubarak Lo, former economic advisor to the Senegalese prime minister, now head of an economic consultancy firm in the capital, Dakar.

“This country that came out of poverty can bring a bit of a human touch [to its relations with Africa]…I think China is sincere in wanting to create a mutually beneficial partnership, based on its own model of development, which vies with models of the World Bank or the International Monetary Fund.”

But some analysts warn that the boost for development might be bad news for democracy. China has pledged its assistance “with no political conditions” - the only prerequisite being support for Beijing’s one-China policy.

No conditions linked to human rights or democratic practices can mean support to African nations with a less-than-sterling record, observers say.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

SAO TOME AND PRINCIPE: Foreign minister resigns over diversion of foreign aid

The foreign minister of Sao Tome and Principe has resigned after coming under widespread criticism for spending nearly US $500,000 of aid from Morocco without reference to other members of the government.

Meanwhile, a group of disgruntled police officers firing guns in the air has seized the main police station in the capital to protest at unpaid salaries and poor working conditions, according to the Portuguese news agency Lusa.

Ovideo Pequeno, a close ally of President Fradique de Menezes, announced his “irreversible” decision to resign on Monday. He told reporters that the controversy surrounding his actions had led to “a climate of breakdown” in relations between Menezes and the government.

Full report

[Top of the Page]

[ENDS]

Theme(s)	Children

Other recent WEST AFRICA reports:

IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 317 covering 11-17 February 2006, 17/Feb/06

IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 316 covering 4-10 February 2006, 10/Feb/06

Africa’s poorest nations fight to ward off deadly bird flu, 9/Feb/06

IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 315 covering 28 January – 3 February 2006, 3/Feb/06

IRIN-WA Weekly Round-up 314 covering 21-27 January 2006, 27/Jan/06

Other recent Children reports:

IRAQ: Thousands of families still displaced after flooding, 21/Feb/06

SOUTH AFRICA: Govt adopts more focused approach to help orphans, 21/Feb/06

YEMEN: Two killed in flash floods, 21/Feb/06

YEMEN: Measles vaccination campaign launched to prevent children’s deaths, 21/Feb/06

TAJIKISTAN: UN appeal for 2006 launched, 16/Feb/06

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