ZIGUINCHOR, Senegal, Nov 29 (AFP) - The veteran leader of southern Senegal's rebel movement, Father Augustin Diamacoune, said Friday he would not give up his 20-year struggle for independence for his home region of Casamance. The ageing head of the Casamance Movement of Democratic Forces (MFDC), which has for two decades been waging a low-level war against the government in Dakar, said his principal concern was to "silence the guns on both sides". "Casamance has been struggling for four and a half centuries," he said. "The people of Casamance are perfectly within their rights. I can't tell them to stop," he told AFP. "I cannot take that responsibility ... Senegal should withdraw its troops. We can't give up," he said. Diamacoune, 76, admitted talks to try to end the conflict had foundered partly because the MFDC was deeply split. Since the MFDC launched its rebellion 20 years ago, hundreds of people have been killed and thousands have fled their homes. Many recent attacks have been banditry rather than secessionist activity. The conflict has also frozen the region's development, in particular growth in the tourism industry. Several ceasefire agreements have been reached between the rebels and Dakar, but none have been respected. Casamance is virtually cut off from the rest of Senegal by the Gambia, a narrow country that straddles the river by the same name and juts from the Atlantic into the middle of Senegal. The MFDC, which has a majority Dioula population, has complained that it is exploited and neglected by other ethnic groups from the largely Muslim north. Many people from the region died when a ferry that plied the route between Ziguinchor and Dakar capsized offshore Gambia on September 26, killing around 1,000 people. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~