MFDC prepares congress

The Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC), which is fighting for independence for Casamance, southern Senegal, plans to hold an oft-delayed national congress later this month, an MFDC official told IRIN on Thursday. The national politburo meeting is tentatively set for “between 25 July and 6 August”, MFDC’s former spokesman, Alexandre Djiba, said. He denied an earlier media report that the meeting had been set for Monday. Clashes in June which had forced thousands of people to leave the Casamance area in southern Senegal, have calmed down for now, he said. He added, however, that Senegal had been reinforcing its positions along the border with The Gambia. Most of those who fled the fighting have returned to the area to farm their lands as the rains have started. The congress would allow the MFDC to harmonise its positions with a view to proposed talks with the government. Since 1982, the MFDC has waged an armed conflict against the Senegalese state for the right to self-governance of Casamance, an agriculturally-rich area partly separated from the rest of Senegal by The Gambia. Djiba said the international community was not doing enough to help resolve the Casamance issue. “It is as if the conflict didn’t exist,” he said, adding that a lack of political will on the part of the government would lead to renewed fighting.