Wade orders army to pursue fleeing rebels into Gambia SHARE<http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Wade+orders+army+to+pursue+fleeing+rebels+into+Gambia+/-/1066/1294080/-/6e596yz/-/> <http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Wade+orders+army+to+pursue+fleeing+rebels+into+Gambia+/-/1066/1294080/-/6e596yz/-/> BOOKMARK<http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Wade+orders+army+to+pursue+fleeing+rebels+into+Gambia+/-/1066/1294080/-/6e596yz/-/> PRINT<http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Wade+orders+army+to+pursue+fleeing+rebels+into+Gambia+/-/1066/1294080/-/view/printVersion/-/iqdpsk/-/index.html> EMAIL<http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Wade+orders+army+to+pursue+fleeing+rebels+into+Gambia+/-/1066/1294080/-/6e596yz/-/> RATING Abdoulaye Wade, President of Senegal. PHOTO/ MAHMUD TURKIA / FILE By TAMBA MATTHEW NATION Correspondent Posted Thursday, December 22 2011 at 18:33 *DAKAR, Thursday* An infuriated Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade has ordered the country’s armed forces to pursue the fleeing separatist rebels “everywhere even inside Gambia”. President Wade gave the orders yesterday in Dakar in the aftermath of a deadly separatist rebel attack on Tuesday that killed about ten soldiers in the troubled southern Casamance region. “They could be hiding in the forests and across the border to the Gambia, but pursue them wherever they may be found and let them face the law”, President Wade told the army. Analysts say the president’s orders were to move the public attention from the political crisis rocking the country as he moves to contest a controversial third mandate. It is also believed that the order could be inimical to the already tense relationship between the two neighbouring countries that was heightened by last year’s Iranian arm shipment alleged destined for the Gambia. The shipment which was aborted and confiscated in Nigeria, led Senegal and Gambia to break diplomatic ties with Iran with Senegal arguing that the arms were intended for the rebels. Like many Senegalese, President Wade is of the firm conviction that the Movement des Forces Democratique de Casamance (or Mfdc) which are fighting to obtain independence of the region are backed by neighbouring Gambia and Guinea Bissau. Share This Story Share<http://www.facebook.com/sharer.php?u=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.nation.co.ke%2FNews%2Fafrica%2FWade%2Borders%2Barmy%2Bto%2Bpursue%2Bfleeing%2Brebels%2Binto%2BGambia%2B%2F-%2F1066%2F1294080%2F-%2F6e596yz%2F-%2F&t=Wade%20orders%20army%20to%20pursue%20fleeing%20rebels%20into%20Gambia%20%C2%A0-%20Africa%C2%A0%7Cnation.co.ke&src=sp> But since the assassination of the pro-Mfdc General Ansoumana Mané of Guinea Bissau in the late nineties, Senegal’s suspicion has increasingly been fixed on the Gambia which has always denied the allegation. Gambia president Yahya Jammeh who is an ethnic Joola which comprise the vast majority of the Mfdc had argued that the Senegalese government is to blame for the fighting. President Jammeh had explained that he was not in favour of the rebellion because it could spill into his tiny country with devastating consequences and so had always sided with the Senegalese government. On several occasions he said, some elements of the rebels have been arrested in the Gambia and turned over to the Senegalese authorities who eventually released them. In recent times, the opposition in Senegal has been accusing President Wade of dividing the rebels into factions and had enriched them with huge amounts of money. The opposition has cast doubt over such a move by the president, wondering whether such an attitude to could help end the conflict which keep worsening year in and year out. When President Wade campaignged for his election in 2000, he had promised that he would end the rebellion in 100 days if he won the elections but that has failed eleven years down the line. -- * ***************************************************************************** GOD BLESS THE GAMBIA. LET US JOIN HANDS AND SUPPORT SHEIKH PROFESSOR DR. ALH YAHYA JAMMEH (NASIRU DEEN) TO BUILD OUR COUNTRY. * ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.EXE?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤¤