I am a neophyte in regard to the conflict in Casamance, but these are my observations.

Firstly, President Jammeh is not the best negotiator for this peace process.  The most important thing about being a negotiator is the ability to be impartial, or, in other words, not to take sides.  Our president is first and foremost a patriotic Jola.  This evidenced by his direct participation in the barbaric Sindola activities that took place on Feb 18th in the presence of thousands of horrified school children.  If this is not evidence of his staunch allegiance to the Jola tribe then I don't know what is.  In my opinion, the president/leader of a country should be able to elevate himself from the murky business of tribalism and regionalism.

Secondly, it seems as if the Casamance separationist movement has become very fragmented.  There is the main faction led by Father Senghor, in addition to many other splinter groups that seem to be completely out of sync with one another in terms of strategy or joint decisions.  I remember a major clash between the Senegalese troops and a splinter faction of the rebels hours after Jammeh's regime had triumphantly announced a cease fire in Banjul.  Negotiating with one major splinter group at the expense of the others simply will not work.

For the above reasons, it seems as if President Wade and his soon to be government will have to reevaluate their peace strategy.  Maybe, all factions should come together and work out a settlement without the likes of President Jammeh involved.  Or, perhaps, short of granting them independence, the Senegalese government should make some major concessions to the people of Casamance.  After all, the people of Casamance have been the most mistreated people in the sub-region.

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