On July 26, 1998, a ceasefire was declared, followed by peace negotiations which progressed at a painfully slow pace. Slowly an estimated 200,000 displaced persons returned to Bissau. There they faced a city occupied by foreign troops, many buildings reduced to rubble by the weeks of heavy shelling, homes looted of what took years of hard work to accumulate, places of employment closed indefinitely, and the ever present threat that shelling could resume.

Fighting resumed Sunday, October 18th. The citizens of Bissau once again fled the capital. Mortar and gun fire rocked the city as forces of the Military Junta advanced on the center of Bissau. Outside the capital, Junta forces swept the interior. Only part of the capital of Bissau and the Bijagos Islands remain in the hands of the government and foreign troops. A cease-fire went into effect Friday, October 23rd, followed by frantic negotiations to avoid the destruction and loss of life that a final military advance on Bissau would cause.

October 29th, in the Gambia, Junta leader Ansumane Mane and President Nino met face to face for the first time since the conflict began. Their talks continued in Abuja, Nigeria, culminating in the signing of a peace accord late Sunday, November 1rst, 1998. Does this mean the war is over? It all depends on how the peace accord is implemented. The people of Guinea-Bissau are not celebrating peace, yet.

UPDATE January 16, 1999 - Slowly the peace accord is being implemented. Just this past week, the government and the Military Junta agreed on the composition of a transitional government of national unity. This follows last month's nomination of Fransisco Fadul, a political advisor of the Military Junta, as transitional Prime Minister. The transitional government will take power when troops from Senegal and Guinea-Conakry have withdrawn. Their withdrawal is dependant on the deployment of ECOMOG peacekeepers from Togo, the Gambia, Niger, and Benin. The first 120 of the planned 1,450 ECOMOG forces finally arrived from Togo just after Christmas. Last week the first 200 Senegalese and Guinean troops (of around 3,000) left. The slowness of their withdrawal has led to tension in Bissau, tension heightened by rumors that the first group of Senegalese to leave Bissau stopped in the Bijagos Islands (within Guinea-Bissau) rather than returning home.

Most of Bissau's population has returned, but like the transitional government, some are delaying their return to the capital until Senegalese troops have left. Once the transitional government takes power, one of its major tasks will be to oversee parliamentary and presidential elections. According to the peace accord, these were to be held no later than the end of March 1999. Despite the likely delay in elections, hopes for peace remain.

UPDATE February 6, 1999 – FRAGILE CEASE-FIRE FOLLOWS SUDDEN RESUMPTION OF FIGHTING. Early Sunday January 31rst, fighting resumed in Bissau. Four days of intense shelling and small arms battles followed. On Wednesday a cease-fire was hastily brokered by Togolese diplomats sent by President Eyadema of Togo, current chairman of ECOWAS. Fighting slowly died down, and 300 ECOMOG troops from Niger and Benin, whose deployment had been delayed by the fighting, landed in Bissau. Friday and Saturday were calm. Bissau remains tense as it's citizens fear the bloodshed could resume at any time.

This third, and shortest, round of fighting has apparently been the most intense. The International Red Cross has confirmed 100 civilian dead and say that number could rise. A Guinean friend in Bissau told me by phone today that, in his estimation, the number of civilian dead is at least 400. The main hospital, short on medicines and basic surgical supplies, is struggling to cope with 300 civilian wounded. The sudden eruption of hostilities trapped the people of Bissau, many of whom had just recently returned after fleeing last year’s two episodes of fighting. There were reports of government troops blocking the exit of those who tried to flee. Missionaries and other sources in Bissau suggest civilians were used as human shields to protect Nino and Senegalese troops from the onslaught of the Military Junta.

Numerous sources – civilians, Catholic missionaries, diplomats wishing to remain anonymous, Fransisco Fadul, the Prime Minister designate of Guinea-Bissau – report that French troops were involved in the latest fighting. There are eye-witness accounts of French soldiers on the ground in Bissau and suggestions that a French ship shelled Junta positions, adding French fire power to the causes of death and destruction in Bissau. The French vehemently deny these accusations. February 5th, President Nino expelled Marco Faccioli, a 77 year old Italian priest who has lived in Guinea-Bissau for the past 43 years, for denouncing the presence of French troops in Bissau in radio interviews earlier in the week.[The order was rescinded 48 hours later after intervention from the Diocese of Bissau.]

This latest explosion of fighting came just as it appeared that slowly, but surely, November’s peace accord was being implemented. The deployment of the ECOMOG interposition force and the gradual withdrawal of Senegalese and Guinean troops had begun. Just hours before the fighting flared, government and Junta officials finished outlining the details of the ECOMOG deployment and troop withdrawals.

Most people in Guinea-Bissau were thinking peace as they mourned the death of Dom Septímio Arturo Ferrezetta, Bishop of Bissau. Peace marches were held in his honor. His funeral, planned for February third, was to have celebrated the Bishop’s tireless efforts to bring this war to a peaceful, negotiated end. Now the Bishop’s body lies unburied, waiting for the elusive peace to which he had dedicated the last months of his life.

What went wrong? Who is to blame for the resumption of war? What is the current situation in Bissau? Here are some answers from Guineans and people in Guinea-Bissau.