President promises reconciliation, peace

President Kumba Yala has promised reconciliation among his country folk and good relations with Guinea-Bissau’s neighbours: Senegal and Guinea, PANA reported on Wednesday. He told the agency that although he regretted the death on 30 November of his opponent, the late General Ansumane Mane, the army would now “return to its constitutional role” and no longer interfere in government. The now defunct Military Junta, headed by Mane, acted almost as a parallel government, often challenging major government decisions with which it disagreed. In the last of such actions in November, Mane rescinded Yala’s army promotions and the president’s appointment of the armed forces chief of staff, saying they would destroyed the hierarchical structure of the military. Mane was killed after the chief of staff escaped house arrest and led his pro-government forces to regain control of Bissau and storm Mane’s hideaway about 40 km out of Bissau. With the military seemingly tamed, Yala told PANA he would now be able to establish democracy in peace. He vowed, also, to “reject all scenarios of violence” and concern the government with development. In addition, he pledged that Guinea-Bissau would not serve as a rear base for anti-government forces in Senegal which, for nearly two decades, have been waging a war for the independence of Casamance, in the south of Senegal.