The One-Hundred-Models Affair: Wade Opens the Door For Breaking Diplomatic Relations With Libya



Wal Fadjri (Dakar)

September 3, 2001 
Posted to the web September 4, 2001 

Mamadou Biaye
Dakar 

[Last week, the Senegalese authorities prevented one hundred 'models' from boarding a Libyan-chartered plane heading for Tripoli. According to the women, they were hired by the Libyans to take part in celebrations marking the 32nd anniversary of Colonel Muammar Al-Gaddafi's accession to power. But the Senegalese government claimed the young girls had been recruited by Libyan agents as part of an international sex ring and pointed the finger at the Libyan authorities who have denied any involvement.]

[Translated from French by allAfrica.com] One thing is clear today. The Senegalese authorities are convinced of Libya's involvement in the affair of the one hundred Senegalese models. Otherwise, how should we interpret the decisions taken by those authorities, which could lead to severing diplomatic relations between the two countries?

     


So are we really heading for a break in diplomatic relations between Senegal and Libya? It looks like it, if we take into account the Senegalese government's reaction to what it described as an attempt to smuggle the girls to Tripoli. Thus, the case, which has been referred to the courts, has become an affair of state.

Souleymane Ndéné Ndiaye, spokesperson for the President, said that "a verbal message of protest was sent to his excellency, the ambassador of Libya, in Senegal." The government has also recalled "Senegal's ambassador to Tripoli for consultation on how he should act from now on."

That is not all. In a document sent to the press, the Dakar government says "it expects a reduction to a minimum of staff at the Libyan embassy, excluding security and military personnel." As to Libyan nationals wanting to transit through Senegal's air or seaports, visas issued to them will be reduced to a trickle.

[....]

But did not the government act too soon when it made its decisions public, given that it had referred the case of the models to justice? Souleymane Ndéné Ndiaye gave assurances that "the measures taken by the government are of a diplomatic nature that has nothing to do with what the judiciary needs to do."

At the outset of this whole affair, the Senegalese Minister of Foreign Affairs and Expatriates, Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, said his Libyan counterpart had assured him that Libya had nothing to do with what happened. But the various measures taken by the Senegalese government show it is convinced Libya's top diplomat did not reveal everything he knew to Gadio. They also suggest that Libya was involved. The only question now is at what level.

Since Abdoulaye Wade became President, relations between Senegal and Libya had been going well, which even annoyed the West. That is why some quarters interpret the Senegalese government decisions as having been taken under pressure from Western countries. The President's spokesperson rejected that theory outright and said that "Senegal is an independent and sovereign state and no such pressure exists." He added that relations between Senegal and Libya remain intact despite those measures."

As to the African Union, which both Wade and Al-Gaddafi champion, Souleymane Ndiaye said there was no "cause for alarm". He added that: "we cannot limit Africa to two countries. The measures taken by the government will not in any way compromise the setting up of the African Union's institutions which already exist anyway."

Nonetheless, it remains to be seen how Libya will react now and which of the two countries will be first to sever its relations with the other.

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