Rebels and government resume peace talks

The Senegalese government and rebels fighting for a separate state in Casamance, southern Senegal, resumed talks on Monday in Banjul, The Gambia, with a view to ending more than 17 years of war. Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) spokesman Alexandra Djiba told IRIN on Tuesday that the talks, expected to end on Wednesday, centred on establishing a mechanism to monitor agreements reached by the two sides on 26 December 1999. The agreements include an immediate cessation of hostilities and the release of detained separatists. Tuesday’s meeting marked the second round of talks. It discussed the recognition of MFDC as a legitimate body, the removal of restrictions on the movement of its members, the withdrawal of Senegalese troops and those the MFDC’s military wing, ATIKA, from all occupied positions, and the demining of the battlefield. Djiba denied recent news reports of a breakdown in the ceasefire between the government troops and ATIKA. He said the Senegalese army had killed the brother of the chief of the village of Nyassea on 21 January then began firing in an attempt to make it seem that ATIKA was attacking the area. The director of the Senegalese army’s public relations department was not immediately available for comment. The MFDC took up arms in 1982 demanding independence for the agriculturally rich Casamance, which is almost totally separated from the rest of Senegal by The Gambia.