04 FEV 99 - 13:48
Guinea-Bissau: Cease-fire Taking Hold Despite Occasional Gunfire
Bissau, Feb. 4 (Lusa) - Despite sporadic gunfire and shelling, the latest cease-fire in the Guinea-Bissau capital appeared to be taking hold Thursday morning.
At noon three loud explosions from rounds of artillery were heard. But with a general calming overnight, Bissau lived its most peaceful interlude since fighting erupted early Sunday.
A cease-fire agreement, mediated by two Togolese cabinet ministers Wednesday, called for the "immediate entry" into Bissau of some 300 West African peacekeepers aboard a French ship outside Bissau.
However, the commander of a Togolese contingent already in the city, Col. Berena, announced he would wait three days to test the truce before ordering his reinforcements from Benin and Niger ashore.
Togo currently heads the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), which mediated a Nov. 2 peace accord between loyalist and rebel military factions and is providing the peacekeeping force.
Various sources told Lusa at least 35 people were killed and more than 200 wounded in the city in the past four days. Thousands more fled Bissau into the interior or to the outlying Bijagos islands.