Monrovia (dpa)- More than 14 people were confirmed dead, 205 injured and 250 arrested during week-end riots between Moslems and Christians in Monrovia, Information Minister William Allen said Monday.
Allen said the material damage could not yet be estimated, but five churches and two mosques had been burnt to the ground.

"We can evaluate losses in terms of the peace dividend and destruction of businesses,'' Allen told journalists.

Former Nigerian head of state Abdul Salami Abubakar, who is the main negotiator in the peace process, said the riots

Kabul (dpa) Afghan defense officials were investigating Monday whether Afghan officials could have assisted a group of extremist militants in kidnapping three foreigners working for the electoral commission.

"It is difficult to believe that the kidnappers have managed the abduction without internal cooperation,'' Zahir Azimy, spokesman for the Defense Ministry, told Deutsche Presse-Agentur, dpa.

However, Azimy declined to provide details on which government officials or security agency might have assisted the kidnappers.

Last Thursday, armed men in military

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

NAIROBI, 1 November (IRIN) - Conflicting reports from the disputed region of Sool, northern Somalia, indicate that at least 100 people were killed on Friday when forces from the self-declared republic of Somaliland, and those of the self-declared autonomous region of Puntland, clashed, a local source told IRIN.

Both sides are accusing the other of initiating the hostilities.

The Somaliland Minister of Information, Abdillahi Du'ale, told IRIN on Monday: "The fact of the matter is

News No. 04/129

The ICRC is deeply concerned about the riots that have raged in the Liberian capital since Thursday night and resulted in loss of life, injury and destruction of property. The organization is alarmed by the rapid escalation of violence and urges the communities involved to remain calm and to refrain from acts of reprisal.

Over 100 injured people have been treated in the ICRC-supported trauma unit at Monrovia's John F. Kennedy Hospital. In addition, the Liberia National Red Cross Society and the ICRC have come

by Cristina Estrada

At least 11 people, including five children, have lost their lives and 12 are believed to be missing after Colombia was hit by torrential rains over the last month.

In total, more than 70,000 people have been affected by the floods and landslides, with the worst affected departments being Cordoba and Sucre.

The Colombian government has declared a state of emergency in 15 municipalities of Cordoba, on the country's Atlantic coast, and one in Sucre. The departments of Antioquia, Atlantico and Bolivar have also been affected.

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

BUJUMBURA, 1 November (IRIN) - Concerns of a constitutional crisis in Burundi abated on Monday when six Tutsi-dominated parties dropped their long-standing opposition to the country's current interim constitution.

The interim constitution is necessary to avoid a constitutional void, the chairman of the main Tusti-dominated Parti de l'unite pour le progres national Jean, Baptiste Manwangari, told reporters on Monday.

However, he said his parties still wanted changes to be made to the final constitution.

A French civilian member of the United Nations peacekeeping mission in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) has been accused of child molestation and is being held by French justice officials, according to a joint United Nations and French statement.

The individual in question has been handed over to his country's authorities after he was transferred Friday night to Kinshasa by the UN Organization Mission in the DRC (MONUC) for security reasons, said the statement, issued yesterday by MONUC and the French Embassy.

"From Sunday morning, 31 October

Ref No UNAMSIL/PIO/PR/ 197/2004

Freetown, Sierra Leone - The Special Representative of the Secretary-General for Sierra Le one, Ambassador Daudi Ngelautwa Mwakawago over the weekend launched the Women's Help Line (WHL) in the southern provincial town of Pujehun. The project was undertaken at the initiative of the United Nations Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL).

In his keynote address to a packed hall, Ambassador Mwakawago said in spite of the untold suffering the war inflicted on them, the women of Pujehun had made encouraging efforts to deal with

Thousands left homeless after severe rains recently struck the oldest camp housing internally displaced persons (IDPs) in northern Uganda are now battling a cholera outbreak, the United Nations relief coordination office said today.

Three people at the Pabbo camp have died from the illness, said the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA).

The camp was hit on 24 October by a severe storm that ripped the roofs off most of the 5,500 shelters and washed away food rations.

At least 1.6 million people in northern Uganda have been displaced by the 18-year long conflict.