BANJUL (Reuters) - Gambian security forces detained 15 Senegalese soldiers
in the former British colony on Tuesday, a military official said, amid
tensions between the West African neighbours caused by a transport dispute.

The armed and uniformed Senegalese troops were detained near the main market
in the Gambian capital of Banjul. The soldiers said they had come to buy
sugar and satellite dishes, which are cheaper in Gambia than in Senegal.

They were taken for questioning in a nearby naval base, the

military officer, who asked not be named, told Reuters.

Senegalese officials said they were not aware of the detentions, which
occurred as an acrimonious dispute over the fee for the Gambia river
crossing strained bilateral ties.

"We found the Senegalese soldiers in two pick-up trucks some 500 metres
(yards) from the market," the Gambian military official said. "Now we are
going to find out what they were doing right in the heart of Banjul."

One of Africa's smallest states, finger-shaped Gambia nearly divides
Senegal's territory in two, stretching 350 km (217 miles) inland from the
Atlantic seaboard along the banks of the Gambia river.

Relations between the two neighbours soured last month when Banjul hiked the
fee for the Gambia river crossing which links the two halves of Senegal, a
former French colony.

Senegalese bus drivers have blockaded the road to and from Gambia, forcing
vehicles to cover hundreds of extra kilometres (miles) to reach Senegal's
southern province of Casamance and disrupting trade with Gambia.

The dispute is also affecting supplies of goods and foodstuffs to
Guinea-Bissau, which borders southern Senegal.



© Reuters 2005. All Rights Reserved.



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