Many arrested in search for suspected Casamance rebels

Security forces have arrested more than 60 people in Bissau amid reports that Casamance rebels have infiltrated the town and that a large cache of weapons had been found there, reliable sources told IRIN on Tuesday. The sources said most of the detainees were of the Jola ethnic group, which straddles Senegal, The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau. Jolas form the backbone of the Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC), which has been fighting for 19 years for independence for the Casamance, an area in southern Senegal that borders on Guinea-Bissau. A source said the arrests started on Friday after the security forces seized a large quantity of weapons in Bsak, a Bissau neighbourhood. Four days earlier, the security forces had begun searching neighbourhoods suspected of having significant arms caches. According to AFP, the neighbourhoods - Bsak, Bairro, Militar, Bra and Plaque - were strongholds of late General Ansumane Mane's Junta Militar during its mutiny against former President Joao Bernardo Vieira between June 1998 and May 1999. Mane was killed in November 2000 during an unsuccessful bid to seize control of the military. He was said to be close to the MFDC, which had helped his Junta Militar defeat Vieira's forces, supported by Senegalese and Guinean troops. For years, the MFDC has reportedly used the area along Guinea-Bissau's border with Senegal as a rear base. However, Mane's demise appeared to have had an adverse effect on the rebels. Since January, security forces have clashed with supposed MFDC rebels in areas close to the border. In one operation, over 30 people were killed. The authorities in Bissau said the dead were guerrillas. MFDC sources said they were refugees. Sources in Bissau feel the crackdown on the MFDC may have caused the rebels to leave the border areas and head for Bissau.