March 05, 2003
West Africa: What Went Wrong with Ivory Coast's Peace Process - by Senegal's Foreign Minister
Attempts to resolve the civil war in Cote d'Ivoire show scant progress. Three rebel factions still hold Ivory Coast's north, and parts of the west. Over a thousand people have… Read more »
Africa: Senegal Steers Steady Course on Iraq, Neither Paris nor Washington
There is a clear consensus among African governments that a unilateral move by the United States to engage militarily in Iraq would be a mistake. At last month's African Union… Read more »
February 26, 2003
Africa: Washington Lobbies for Africa's UN Council Votes
The Bush Administration is pressing African nations to support the impending war with Iraq, and the three African nations on the United Nations Security Council have been targets… Read more »
February 17, 2003
Liberia: Tortured Journalist Hassan Bility Describes Six Months in Jail
Liberian journalist Hassan Bility was arrested with colleagues in the Liberian capital, Monrovia, in June 2002 and held incommunicado for almost six months as what the government… Read more »
February 16, 2003
West Africa: Regional Shuttle Diplomacy Redoubled Ahead of Ivorian Rebel Deadline
A weekend of intensive diplomacy in West Africa to try to keep the Cote dIvoire peace process alive seems to have ended inconclusive. All stakeholders were acutely aware of the… Read more »
February 14, 2003
Nigeria: Sharp Words On Iraq War From Outgoing Nigerian Ambassador
Jibril Muhammad Aminu, Nigeria's ambassador to the United States since November, 1999 is returning home after just over three years in the post. Read more »
February 12, 2003
Africa: African Development Bank Pulls Staff Out of Ivory Coast
Continuing insecurity, tension and confusion in Cote dIvoire over the fate of the peace process and failure to end the five-month civil war, have triggered a decision by the… Read more »
February 11, 2003
Cote d'Ivoire: New Prime Minister Ponders Consensus Cabinet as Fighting Worsens
There were reports of renewed fighting in Cote dIvoire Tuesday, less than 24 hours after Seydou Diarra was installed as the country's new consensus prime minister - with the… Read more »
February 09, 2003
Cote d'Ivoire: Peace Efforts Redoubled as Fighting Flares in West
Government troops in Cote dIvoire report fresh fighting in the west of the country on Sunday, as efforts continued to persuade President Laurent Gbagbo and his rivals to implement… Read more »
February 07, 2003
Zimbabwe: Nigeria, South Africa Favour Constructive Engagement with Zimbabwe
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo said Friday he preferred a policy of constructive engagement and effective diplomacy, rather than antagonism towards Zimbabwe, where he… Read more »
Liberia: Fighting Near the Liberian Capital Drives Thousands Into Bush
Fighting in recent days within striking distance of Liberia's capital, Monrovia, has led to panic among civilians and major disruption with thousands fleeing the area west of the… Read more »
February 03, 2003
Cote d'Ivoire: Anti-Government Riot Rocks Abidjan, AU Summit to Discuss Ivory Coast
Opposition demonstrators in Cote dIvoire stormed onto the streets of Abidjan, Sunday, one week after pro-government supporters launched a series of anti-French rallies in the… Read more »
Nigeria: Between 20 and 30 Killed in Lagos Blast, Bank Looted
At least 20 and as many as 30 people were reported dead, Sunday, in Nigerias main city, Lagos, after an explosion ripped through an apartment and shopping complex and destroyed… Read more »
February 01, 2003
West Africa: Ivory Coast Peace Plan in Tatters, W.African Leaders Meet
As West African leaders gathered in Senegal, Friday, in a bid to rescue the Cote dIvoire peace accord and find urgent resolutions to the escalating crisis, thousands of youths… Read more »
January 29, 2003
West Africa: Ivory Coast Awaits President's Speech, Opposition to Accord Hardens
The people of Cote dIvoire are in a state of high anxiety as they await the word from their president, Laurent Gbagbo, on the faltering peace accord agreed last weekend in France. Read more »
January 28, 2003
Cote d'Ivoire: Gbagbo Comments Sow Doubt on Ivory Coast Peace Deal
Speaking in Cote d'Ivoire's commercial capital, Abidjan, President Laurent Gbagbo has described the French-brokered peace plan he accepted at the weekend in Paris as a set of… Read more »
January 26, 2003
West Africa: Ivory Coast Peace Deal Sparks Violence, Gbagbo Appeals for Calm
Cote d'Ivoire President Laurent Gbagbo appealed for calm, Sunday, as rampaging mobs attacked French targets in the main city, Abidjan, in an explosion of fury over perceived… Read more »
West Africa: Ivory Coast President Agrees to Share Power, Names New PM
Ivorian president Laurent Gbagbo named a new prime minister, Saturday, agreeing in principle to share power, in line with a peace plan drawn up at all-party negotiations sponsored… Read more »
January 24, 2003
West Africa: Ivory Coast Peace Plan Agreed; Will Gbagbo Sign?
Cote dIvoires rival factions - including rebel and government representatives - agreed a French-brokered peace plan early Friday, to try and end the four-month civil war. Read more »
January 21, 2003
Liberia: Exiled Politician Brumskine Returns Home to Prepare for Elections
Former president pro-tem of the Liberian Senate, Cllr. Charles W. Brumskine returned to his country last week after many years in exile in the United States. He fled Liberia in… Read more »
Africa: Finding Africa's 'Big Oil' - in Deep Water
When Gene Van Dyke, a native of Illinois, graduated from the University of Oklahoma with a degree in geological engineering 50 years ago, he wasn't thinking about Africa. Read more »
January 15, 2003
West Africa: Ivory Coast Foes Gather in Paris for Crucial Peace Talks
The scene is set for the Cote dIvoire peace talks to relocate to the French capital, Wednesday, after weeks of deadlocked negotiations in Togo. Delegations representing Ivorian… Read more »
January 14, 2003
Senegal: Popenguine - Women Join Hands to Revive a Community Resource
Wolimata Thiao is a towering, one-woman, tour de force. She has mobilised the women of Popenguine and surrounding villages, north of the Senegalese capital, Dakar, to reclaim and… Read more »
January 11, 2003
Liberia: Religious Leaders Released but Repression Intensifies
Only two days after they were charged with treason, two Liberian religious leaders have been released from detention by the government of President Charles Taylor. The authorities… Read more »
January 04, 2003
West Africa: France Presses Ivory Coast President for Concessions
The French foreign minister, Dominque de Villepin, flew to Cote d'Ivoire Friday and immediately began knocking heads together, to try to end the four-month civil war which has… Read more »