From: [log in to unmask]
Date: Thu, 13 Mar 2003 23:59:20 EST
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: FOSG News (3/13): Senegal's Wade wants united Africa stand on Iraq

INTERVIEW-Senegal's Wade wants united Africa stand on Iraq

By Nicholas Kotch and Diadie Ba

DAKAR, March 12 (Reuters) -- President Abdoulaye Wade of Senegal urged
African states on Wednesday to seek a common position on the Iraq crisis at
what he called one of the most difficult moments in the history of humanity.

Whatever the choice, Africa will pay a heavy price after a new Gulf war, he
said in an interview with Reuters.

"It's true that we are small countries, but Africa will not escape the
consequences of a war because uncontrolled terrorism will appear, and
because of a rise in the oil price which will hit African countries that are
not oil producers," Wade said.

He did not say which way Senegal would vote if it was on the U.N. Security
Council and had to choose between the United States' case for a war to
disarm Iraqi President Saddam Hussein and the French view that this could be
achieved without war.

Guinea, Angola and Cameroon are facing that dilemma, as Africa's temporary
members of the 15-nation Council.

But Wade, elected democratically in 2000, said he was trying to forge a
joint position among Africa's 50-odd nations.

"We cannot stay silent when world peace is at risk. I am in the process of
consulting a number of (African) heads of state...for a common position,"
the 77-year-old president said.

"I don't know if in the history of humanity there has been such a difficult
moment."

THE WHITE HOUSE CALLS

Senegal, an overwhelmingly Muslim country with a high level of tolerance for
religious minorities, wields influence far greater than its status as one of
the world's poorest countries might indicate.

It was one of the few Third World countries to contribute troops to the
first Gulf War effort to oust Iraq from Kuwait in 1991, although there is no
suggestion that it will do so this time.

Wade was among the foreign heads of state to receive a personal phone call
on the Iraq crisis from U.S. President George W. Bush. He did not divulge
the contents of the call but said: "I gained the impression that war was not
inevitable."

Bush's call came as France stepped up diplomatic efforts to persuade the
three African Security Council members to vote against a war.

The Africans face the choice of either letting down Africa's main
interlocutor among wealthy nations, France, or angering the world's lone
superpower, the United States.

The dilemma is particularly acute for Senegal. Its 500-year links with
France have forged an intensely close relationship, but it has also worked
successfully for two decades to create strong defence and political ties
with Washington.

Government statements so far have stressed the need for a resolution of the
crisis agreed by the United Nations.

As a member and former chairman of the Islamic Conference Organisation
(ICO), Senegal has strong links with many Arab countries and Wade attends
their summits.

He said Arab governments' positions on Iraq were influenced by public
opinion in their countries. "Sentimentally, the people are for Saddam
Hussein because they see big America coming to beat up this little country.

"But I have said to the Arabs: you expect every (compromise) from the United
States, but why don't you ask Iraq?"

03/12/03 12:04 ET
-----------------------
Gambia detains 69 stowaways bound for Ireland


BANJUL, March 9 (Reuters) - Police in Gambia have arrested 69 stowaways
trying to board a boat bound for Ireland from the impoverished West African
state, a police source said.

The source said the police and National Guard detained the stowaways on
Saturday after a tip-off from the chief of Tanji, a village 32 km (20 miles)
west of the capital Banjul.

The source said they were in Tanji to board a Russian vessel coming from
Senegal's capital Dakar and bound for Ireland that was scheduled to pick
them up on Saturday evening.

"Presently all of them are in custody for interrogation," the police source
said late on Saturday.

According to the police, the detainees said they had paid 1,000 British
pounds ($1,605) each for the trip arranged by a Gambian and a Ghanaian whose
identities have yet to be established.

The detainees comprised 52 Ghanaians, 11 Nigerians, two Gambians, one
Guinean, one Togolese, one Ivory Coast national and one from Burkina Faso.

"It is expected that once the investigations are over, the foreign nationals
will be deported to their respective countries while legal action may be
taken against any Gambians involved in this," the police source said.

03/09/03 13:14 ET
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