Senegalese independence movement holds congress

Southern Senegal’s pro-independence organisation, le Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC), started its politburo meeting on Monday in the Gambian capital, Banjul, in a bid to “harmonise its positions” prior to proposed peace talks with the Senegalese government, former MFDC spokesman Alexandre Djiba told IRIN.

The group’s several factions, including its European wing, are at the meeting expected to end on Wednesday with the announcement of its strategy to achieve peace and self-rule in Casamance.

Discussions have centred on assessing the latest developments in the Casamance, where a fragile ceasefire has been punctuated by occasional fighting between the army and the MDFC guerrillas. The MFDC has been fighting for self-rule since 1982, maintaining that the agriculturally-rich Casamance was never a part of Senegal under French colonial rule.