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SIERRA LEONE: RUF resumes disarmament
Sierra Leone's government and Revolutionary United Front (RUF) agreed on Tuesday to resume a stalled disarmament process in the eastern district of Kono, UN Mission in Sierra Leone (UNAMSIL) reported.
The agreement was concluded in the southern town of Bo within the framework of Sierra Leone's Joint Committee on Disarmament, Demobilisation and Reintegration (DDR), comprising the government, RUF and UNAMSIL. The parties agreed that all checkpoints erected by the RUF or the pro-government Civil Defence Forces (CDF) in Kono District would be dismantled beginning Wednesday 18 July. Any checkpoints that are needed will be set up and manned only by UNAMSIL, they agreed.
These measures, they said, should allow for a smooth completion of the disarmament process in Kono, now expected to end on 31 July. "No combatants will be allowed to carry weapons except on their way to reception centers under the supervision of their commanders, to prevent future clashes between armed combatants in the district," UNAMSIL reported.
The signatories to the deal also agreed on a total moratorium on mining in Kono as of Wednesday. A joint committee comprising representatives of the signatories is to monitor compliance with Tuesday's agreement, signed by Attorney General and Justice Minister Solomon Berewa and the chairman of RUF's Political and Peace Council, Omrie Golley. The event was witnessed by Ambassador Oluyemi Adeniji, the Special Representative of the UN Secretary-General.
Disarmament in Kono began earlier this month but was stalled by mutual suspicion between the RUF and CDF.
WEST AFRICA: Insecurity still drives thousands from their homes
Insecurity is still displacing thousands of people in parts of West Africa, UNHCR spokesman Ron Redmond said on Tuesday in Geneva.
In Daru, eastern Sierra Leone, UNHCR has registered over 3,000 Sierra Leonean refugees who returned spontaneously from Guinea since 1 July, Redmond said. Several hundreds have also returned home from Liberia, accompanied by "a handful of new Liberian refugees" fleeing renewed fighting in the northern county of Lofa.
The new arrivals also include Guinean civilians recently freed by Revolutionary United Front (RUF) rebels who abducted them earlier this year during raids inside southern Guinea, Redmond said, adding that UNHCR would help repatriate them to Guinea.
Most of the new returnees came from the Parrot's Beak region in southwestern Guinea, UNHCR said. They cited the closure of camps and the termination of assistance in the area, which juts into Sierra Leone and is also close to Lofa County, as their main reasons for leaving. They did not report any harassment along the way, and said that passing through RUF-held areas was now easier.
Some returnees are, however, in bad shape, including children suffering from severe malnutrition, Redmond said. The children, he said, are immediately taken to an International Medical Corps supplementary feeding centre in Daru. They receive vaccinations, and every returnee undergoes medical screening.
Fighting in Liberia has also caused some 3,800 Liberians to seek refuge in western Côte d'Ivoire since May. Arrivals from Monrovia and Lofa County reported police intimidation and forced recruitment by government forces as their reasons for leaving. Others coming from Bong County, adjacent to Lofa, said they were fleeing because they feared that fighting might spread to their district.
GABON: Congolese refugees to receive food from WFP
The UN's World Food Programme (WFP) has committed US $280,000 towards a six-month programme to provide a minimum of food security for some 12,000 Congolese refugees in Gabon, a WFP official told IRIN on Wednesday. However, the programme still faces a shortfall of over US $300,000.
WFP's contribution has allowed for the purchase of two months' worth of food, WFP's Gian Carlos Cirri told IRIN. He said this was "emergency food aid" destined for refugees who had received no relief food since mid-April. WFP's contribution, drawn from its Immediate Response Account, represents a "big effort" as donors have not given money for this initiative, Cirri said.
The funding shortfall - about US $340,000 - has created a "tense and critical situation": a total of US $620,000 is needed to buy 950 mt of food for the six months. "We are waiting for new contributions to cover the remaining four months," Cirri said.
Earlier this month, heads of the UN's main humanitarian agencies deplored financial shortfalls for humanitarian assistance and appealed to donors to continue funding their work.
NIGERIA: Police say at least 100 died in Nasarawa crisis
Not fewer than 100 people, including six policemen, died in ethnic unrest over the past five weeks in the central Nigerian state of Nasarawa, media organisations quoted police spokesman Peter Audu as saying in the state capital, Lafia. 'This Day' newspaper said on Wednesday that this was the first official death toll for the conflict, sparked by the killing on 12 July of five people, including an Azara chief. Their deaths were blamed on people from the Tiv ethnic group.
[For more information see 'NIGERIA: IRIN Focus on ethnic conflicts in the central region']
GHANA: Police set up task force on armed robbery
Ghana's police authorities have deployed a 500-member task force to curb armed robberies in Accra, which are now being carried out in broad daylight, news organisations reported. The force has been instructed to deal "most ruthlessly" with the armed robbers, a senior police officer in Accra, Superintendent F. Adu-Poku, was reported as saying by Joy FM radio and the 'Daily Graphic' newspaper. Such robberies have been linked to factors such as the proliferation of small arms in Ghana and other West African nations.
UNITED NATIONS: FAO sets up food-security trust fund
The UN Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) has set up a trust fund to help countries sustain food production and strengthen surveillance and control of transboundary animal diseases, FAO reported on Wednesday. The initial target of the FAO Trust Fund for Food Security and for Emergency Prevention of Transboundary Pests and Diseases of Animals and Plants, is US $500 million. It is to be financed by voluntary contributions from governments, IGOs, NGOs, the private sector and other sources.
[For more information see http://www.fao.org/news/2001/010704-e.htm ]
[ENDS]
Abidjan, 18 July 2001; 17:08
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