The article below was culled from the Gambian Daily Observer. Reading
between the lines of a demoralized Sedat Jobe press conference, I detected
that the Senegalese finally smelt the coffee and kick Yaya out of the
negotiations. The Senegalese have fine soldiers like Ebou Colly to thank for
their government's decision to send Yaya packing. I look forward to Colly's
reaction to this pivotal news. I hope and pray that the Senegalese
government will not ascribe Yaya's illegal and slimy actions to the
peace-loving Gambian people. We have no quarrel with Senegal. People like
Sedat Jobe are gutless vermin that will follow a moron like Yaya to Hell if
need be. We will hold Yaya and MFDC responsible if they make it necessary
for Senegalese soldiers to pursue them into Gambian territory and put
Gambian villagers in jeopardy. The reckless government we have back home
should cease all contact with and support for the MFDC. The Yaya government
should stop harboring rebels in Gambian hotels and treating them at Gambian
hospitals. The government should also stop being a conduit for supplying
arms to the rebels. In other words, Gambians should stay out of a war that
does not concern us.
KB

________________________________________________________________________

GAMBIA WITHDRAWS FROM CASAMANCE PEACE PROCESS Mfdc Calls For Sanctions On
Senegal
The Gambia government yesterday announced its withdrawal from the mediation
role in the Casamance conflict. Following instructions from President
Jammeh, the secretary of state for Foreign Affairs called a press conference
to brief the media on the development.
Before the press conference, Foreign Affairs secretary, Dr ML Sedat Jobe,
held a 52 minute closed door meeting with the diplomats, including UN's
Malika Akrouf, USA's George Haley, Britain's John Perrott, Nigeria's Jacob
Ngbako, Sierra's Leone's EM Fofana, Unicef's Teresa Hevia, WHO Mwanzia,
FAO's Mikkola and Mauritania's Mohamed. At the press conference, SoS Jobe
told journalists, "We are withdrawing to avoid indecent atmosphere in which
our role has been misunderstood."
He explained that following his inauguration as president of Senegal,
Abdoulaye Wade had pleaded with the Gambia government to continue to play a
pro-active role in the Casamance peace process begun during President Abdou
Diouf's regime, but that Wade has neither created a new mediation team nor
other enabling factors for the negotiations. "When we first mediated, our
intention was to withdraw but there were a lot of reactions in Senegal by
the people who think that The Gambia should continue with her role," Jobe
recalled. Dr Jobe said The Gambia has been marginalised in all the recent
meetings on Casamance and that Wade's government does not recognise the
Abidjan code nor The Gambia's mediation role in the peace process.
However, Dr Jobe said "withdrawal (from the peace process) does not mean
hostility (to Senegal). I do not think this will pose any negative impact in
The Gambia's relationship with Senegal." Asked about the reaction of the
diplomats to the Gambia government's decision, Dr Jobe said they expressed
sadness over the incident "but they understand The Gambia's situation."
Gambia, he added, does not derive any monetary gains from the peace process,
"instead, the country is spending from its meagre resources, still that is
not moral...to the government of Wade." Dr Jobe passionately appealed to the
media to stress that the withdrawal has no negative connotation.
Sanctions on Senegal Meanwhile, Alexandre Djiba, the MFDC spokesman, has
called on the international community to freeze all financial assistance to
the government of Mr Wade "until he decides to engage effectively and
concretely in the search for peaceful settlement towards lasting and just
peace in Casamance." Mr Djiba told Daily Observer yesterday, "the silence of
all democrats of the world does nothing but reinforce the feeling of
impunity of the Senegalese policy in Casamance.
He (Wade) tries to undermine the war in Casamance which has been going on
for nearly 20 years by saying the crisis is internal and should be solved
among Senegalese. Wade is preparing for the restart of hostilities in
Casamance. The Movement of Democratic Forces in Casamance is appealing to
the International Community to renounce the crime, which Mr Wade is willing
to foster in Casamance," he concluded.

_________________________________________________________________________
Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com.

Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at
http://profiles.msn.com.

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------