A while back I posted what appeared to me to be the profound inadequacies of Yahya Jammeh's efforts at reaching a peaceful resolution of the unrest in Cassamance. The only thing the President attempted to bring to the negotiating table was goodwill. He lacked credibility, clout and the diplomatic savvy that must necessarily compliment his stated desire for peace. Consequently the President's efforts were continuously stymied by procedural wrangles and unkept promises of ceasefires. The talks went nowhere.The President nonetheless wasted no time parlaying his newfound role as a peace facilitator into diplomatic capital wherever he could. He and and his surrogates are quick to use any forum to portray a man the New York times called a petty dictator as the ultimate apostle of peace. The posturing was endless. Recognizing the inherent lack of progress, the then President-elect Wade quickly announced that he was going to shift the focus of the negotiations from the Banjul Process to Guinea Bissau where he knew the real prospects for a lasting peace laid. This weekend he made good on that by flying over to Bissau for extensive talks and then transiting to Banjul for an hour to essentially tell Yahya Jammeh that the diplomatic ball game has changed as promised. He said he was 'taking the talks from Gambia and moving it to Bissau......'. President Wade is a practical man who wants to quickly end his nations' painful and expensive war of attrition within it's own borders. As a result he has very little patience for the amateurish diplomatic efforts of a mediator who seems to be much more interested in turning his role into tool for posturing than resolving the conflict. In the end Presidents Wade and Kumba Yalla would cut a deal that would not only resolve the problem but would improve overall relations that has grown sour primarily because of this scrooge of a conflict. Working together the two nations can quickly improve the environment along their common border by first flushing out the criminal element that drives most of the violence thus enhancing the already good possibility for a lasting political solution. With peace and tranquility, the people of Cassamance would quickly realize the benefits of using the devolved powers that President Wade has promised that would enable them to remain within a unified Senegal while also being able to run their affairs. Apart from the satisfaction that comes from seeing a neighbor end a fratricidal war of attrition, we Gambians can more easily show the world who Yahya Jammeh really is , which is a murderous tyrant masquerading as a peace maker. At last his penchant to tell anyone within earshot including continental migratory birds flying over Kanalai of his tireless efforts at peacemaking would be finally curbed. Karamba ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html ----------------------------------------------------------------------------