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CHAD: Government denies losing Bardai
The Chadian government on Tuesday denied a claim by the rebel Mouvement pour la democratie et la justice au Tchad (MDJT) that it had captured the northern garrison town of Bardai.
The Communications Ministry said that government forces "control Bardai garrison and fighting is continuing around it" and that the rebels were on the retreat.
A ministry official told IRIN it was not possible to give details of any casualties from such a remote area. Bardai is in the extreme northwest of the country, hundreds of kilometres from Ndjamena in the southwest.
AFP had reported the MJDT as saying it had killed more than 240 government troops in the battle for Bardai on Monday.
[See separate item titled 'CHAD: Government denies fall of northern town']
SIERRA LEONE: Full Security Council support for rescue
The UN Security Council expressed its support on Monday for the weekend operation that rescued 233 peacekeepers and military observers who had been blocked by rebels in the eastern town of Kailahun since May.
"The Security Council expresses its full support for the decision taken by the Secretary-General to mount a military operation by UNAMSIL to relieve its surrounded peacekeepers and military observers at Kailahun", a statement said.
It said that the "cooperation, coherence and sense of common purpose displayed by all concerned should be considered an example of the very best in United Nation multilateral peacekeeping."
UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan said he was "gratified" that the rescue had been completed successfully but deeply regretted the death of one peacekeeper and the wounding of six others during the military operation, according to a statement issued on Monday by his spokesman's office.
Annan now hopes that all efforts can be directed towards a resumption of the peace process and an early end to the suffering of the people in Sierra Leone, the UN statement said.
SIERRA LEONE: US to train, equip West African troops
The United States has agreed to train and equip seven battalions of West African troops to be deployed as UN peacekeeping troops in Sierra Leone, PANA reported Thomas Pickering, the US under-secretary of state for political affairs as saying.
Pickering, now on a five-nation West African tour, said in Nigeria at the weekend that the training would begin in August, PANA reported. He said the programme was part of Washington's assistance to West African and UN peace efforts in Sierra Leone.
The Nigeria-based Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) recently promised some 3,000 additional troops to help bring peace to Sierra Leone.
UNITED NATIONS: SC urges HIV counselling for peacekeepers
The UN Security Council has urged member states to consider voluntary HIV/AIDS testing and counselling for troops to be deployed in peacekeeping operations, a UN news release said on Monday.
The Council unanimously adopted the US-sponsored resolution, the first by the Council on a health issue, expressing concern at the potentially damaging impact of HIV/AIDS on the health of international peacekeeping and support personnel.
It asked the Secretary-General to take further steps to provide training on the prevention of the spread of the virus and to continue the development of pre-deployment orientation and ongoing training on those questions for all peacekeeping personnel, the UN reported.
The UN peacekeeping force in Sierra Leone is the largest in the world currently standing at over 12,000.
The resolution also called for increased international cooperation as well as concrete steps by individual states to minimise the impact of the disease on the health of the troops.
LIBERIA: US threatens action against Monrovia
US Undersecretary of State Thomas Pickering warned on Monday of "very severe consequences" to Washington's relations with Monrovia if Liberia did not stop trading in diamonds and arms with rebels in Sierra Leone, news organisations reported.
Shortly after meeting Liberian President Charles Taylor in Monrovia, Pickering told reporters: "I'd asked the Liberian leader in the strongest terms to address this situation", AFP reported.
He expressed hope that Taylor would use his influence with the rebel Revolutionary United Front (RUF) to bring about a speedy resumption of the Lome peace pact, whose application was suspended after the RUF captured some 500 UN soldiers in May.
Pickering added that if the RUF failed to return to positions it held prior to the peace accord then the UN would "have to adopt a force to restore peace", in accordance with the UN Security Council mandate. The US was "ready to help", he said, if the mandate needed strengthening.
LIBERIA: Millions needed to restore basic services
Monrovia used to be considered one of Africa's bright spots, but the 1989-1997 civil war and the accompanying vandalism destroyed much of the country's infrastructure.
Utilities that suffered heavy damage include the Liberia Water and Sewer Corporation (LWSC) and the Liberia Electricity Corporation (LEC), and restoring such services would require a heavy injection of capital.
For example, repairing the entire electricity generation and distribution system would require US $107.7 million over five years, according to the LEC.
[See separate item titled 'LIBERIA: IRIN Focus on the restoration of basic services']
COTE D'IVOIRE: Draft constitution modified
Each presidential candidate in Cote d'Ivoire must have been born to an Ivoirian mother AND father under an amendment to a draft constitution drawn up by a committee of representatives of political parties and civil society earlier this year.
Hitherto, the draft had stated that for a candidate to be eligible, his/her mother OR father should be or have been Ivoirian. However, the president, General Robert Guei, said that during a tour of Cote d'Ivoire's provinces, he found that the majority of the people wanted the "AND" formula.
The change was announced by the secretary of the government, Marcel Aka Zirimba, six days before a referendum on the new constitution. Another provision bars anyone who has used another nationality from contesting presidential elections to be held in September.
Adversaries of one of the main contenders, ex-Prime Minister Alassane Ouattara maintain that at least one of his parents came from Burkina Faso and that he has held Burkinabe nationality.
IRIN-ASIA: Note to subscribers
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Abidjan, 18 July 2000; 17:00 GMT
[ENDS]
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