_WORLD WATCH______________________________
______________________SENEGAL____________________
Peace talks resume
“Deep relief” for bishops
In mid-December Senegal’s President Abdoulaya Wade announced that talks between the government of the African country and the Casamance separatist group, CMDF, would resume at Ziguinchor, in Casamance, the southern region of Senegal that borders on Gambia and Guinea Bissau. A first agreement opening negotiations was signed on November 25, by a representative of the head of state, the CMDF secretary general, and the Catholic bishop of Ziguinchor.
Fighting between Casamance separatists and the government began in 1983. In April 1999 Guinea Bissau, accused by the Benin government of supporting the rebels, offered to mediate a solution to the problem. The secretary general of the independence movement, a Catholic priest, Father Augustine Diamacoune Senghor, has been pressing for negotiations for some time.
The peace process appeared to be at risk after an attempted coup in Guinea Bissau by General Ansumane Mane, who proclaimed himself head of the army. The general died under circumstances that are not yet clear. Guinea Bissau authorities say the general was “killed in clashes,” but sources say he was assassinated.
The resumption of peace talks has been received with “deep relief and great hope” by the bishops of Senegal who called on all sides not to put obstacles on the path to peace. “Peace cannot be improvised,” the bishops said. “The government and the CMDF must take all the time necessary to reach an agreement which satisfies everyone.” President Wade has called on the international community to help Senegal because “extreme poverty of the people is a cause of political and social instability.”
Back to Catholic World Report February 2001 Table of Contents