The report adds that the drug problem is neither unstoppable nor irreversible. This morning in London, shortly before launching the report, Arlacchi and Keith Halliwell, the United Kingdom's national drugs coordinator, demonstrated the effectiveness of anti-drug tactics when they mingled with journalists, with Arlacchi holding a briefcase full of money and Halliwell carrying a small amount of drugs in his pocket. Police-trained dogs came in and sniffed the drug and the money, identifying Halliwell and Arlacchi as carriers of the smuggled articles. Loua had been abducted from the town of Gueckedou by gunmen as he had tried to send a radio message about an attack on that southern Guinean town. The group, including more than 6,000 children, has been living in appalling conditions on two fingers of land in the Pyani River for several months, many in shelters that are little more than holes in the ground covered with reeds.
Food is in short supply, drinking water is unsafe and sanitation inadequate.
The refugees are also within range of artillery on the Afghan side of the river, and a number of shelling and shooting incidents have been reported. The first interagency mission since December 26 made a brief visit last week and found 1,000 people in a very poor state, with up to 60 percent suffering from illness. The three-day African regional preparatory meeting for the World Conference against Racism began its deliberations in Dakar, Senegal today with a call by President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal for more democracy in Africa. In his keynote address, Wade said that Africans should courageously look into the future where respect for human rights and genuine democracy would be the real challenge. Speaking to the delegates gathered for the conference, Mary Robinson, High Commissioner for Human Rights and Secretary General of the World Conference, called for a discussion during the conference of gender discrimination as an essential element in the preparation of the World Conference against racism.