U N I T E D N A T I O N S Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs Integrated Regional Information Network WEST AFRICA: IRIN WA Weekly Round-up 348 for 16-22 September 2006 CONTENTS: LIBERIA: UN cites urgent humanitarian needs of thousands CHAD: New fronts open in eastern fighting WEST AFRICA: Saudi donation to help alleviate hunger COTE D IVOIRE: President says peacekeepers can leave SENEGAL: New attacks in Casamance COTE D IVOIRE: French executives arrested in toxic-waste scandal GABON: Poverty amid plenty as unemployment booms LIBERIA: UN cites urgent humanitarian needs of thousands The United Nations says about 30,000 people living near Liberia's second largest rubber plantation need urgent assistance now that former combatants no longer lord over the site. The government of President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf, backed by UN peacekeepers, repossessed the Guthrie Rubber Plantation, some 35 km northwest of the capital, Monrovia, last month. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55684&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=LIBERIA CHAD: New fronts open in eastern fighting Columns of soldiers, helicopter gun-ships and tanks have been blasting rebel strongholds in eastern Chad this week, military sources said. A Chadian military official contacted by IRIN said government forces attacked rebels on Tuesday at Hadjer Marfaine, which lies between the towns of Adre and Birak close to the Sudan border, and at Moudeina. The official spoke on condition of anonymity. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55671&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=CHAD WEST AFRICA: Saudi donation to help alleviate hunger Saudi Arabia has donated US $10 million to the World Food Programme to help fight hunger in eight West African countries and boost school feeding programmes. "This assistance to the WFP, especially at this particular time when there is hunger in the West African region, would go a long way in supporting our food aid programs within the region where aid is highly needed," Mustapha Darboe, West Africa regional director of WFP, told reporters on Tuesday. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55654&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=WEST_AFRICA COTE D IVOIRE: President says peacekeepers can leave The United Nations and French peacekeepers in Cote d'Ivoire can leave the country if they want to, President Laurent Gbagbo said in an interview published just ahead of a crucial meeting on the nation's faltering peace process. "If they want to leave, they can leave," Gbagbo said in an interview with the French daily Le Monde published on Tuesday. "I haven't asked them to, but I am thinking of an alternative [peace] plan that I will propose to the African Union." http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55653&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE SENEGAL: New attacks in Casamance Armed rebels looted a convoy of cars on Tuesday morning near the village of Kaparan in the restive Casamance region of southern Senegal, feeding local fears that a new cycle of violence is starting to take hold. Tuesday's attacks took place 45 kilometres northwest of the main Casamance city of Ziguinchor at around 9 a.m. on the main road to the border with The Gambia, police and military officials said. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55648&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=SENEGAL COTE D IVOIRE: French executives arrested in toxic-waste scandal Authorities in Cote d'Ivoire have arrested two senior French officials of a Dutch-based commodities company in connection with a toxic waste scandal that has shaken an already jittery government in the war-divided country."They have been charged with infractions of toxic waste laws," said Justice Ministry official Ali Yeo. Authorities prevented the two executives of commodities trader Trafigura Beheer BV from leaving the country late Saturday as they were about to board a flight to Europe. Their passports were confiscated because they had not yet appeared before a judge, Yeo said. http://www.irinnews.org/report.asp?ReportID=55632&SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=COTE_D_IVOIRE GABON: Poverty amid plenty as unemployment booms Patiently scraping the scales off fish at the Pont Nomba market in Gabon's capital, 19-year-old high-school graduate Etienne Biyoghe said he once dreamt of an office career. But as unemployment has soared in oil-rich Gabon, now he feels lucky just to have enough money to put some food on the table at the end of the day. "I do not feel ashamed," Biyoghe said. In a good month, the arduous work can net him US $300, well above the US $85 minimum wage - unchanged since 1970. It is set to go up to US $155 next month. An estimated 40 percent of people are unemployed in Gabon, a tiny West African country rich in oil, gold, manganese and ore. The United Nations says that between 60 and 70 percent of the population live below the poverty line, scraping by on less than US $1 per day. http://www.irinnews.org/frontpage.asp?SelectRegion=West_Africa&SelectCountry=Gabon [ENDS] This is non-reply e-mail. Please do not hesitate to contact us at [EMAIL PROTECTED] IRIN-WA Tel:+221 867.27.30 Fax: +221 867.25.85 Email: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Principal donors: IRIN is generously supported by Australia, Canada, Denmark, ECHO, Japan, Netherlands, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, the United Kingdom and the United States of America. For more information, go to: http://www.IRINnews.org/donors [This item comes to you via IRIN, a UN humanitarian news and information service, but may not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations or its agencies. All IRIN material may be reposted or reprinted free-of-charge; refer to the copyright page (Http://www.irinnews.org/copyright ) for conditions of use. 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