MFDC ready to meet government

The Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC) said in a communique on Tuesday that it was ready to resume peace negotiations as early as 15 September with Senegal’s government. It said a decision to this effect was made at a four-day national congress held last week in Banjul, The Gambia, where MFDC officials hammered out a common position ahead of talks to resolve the 19-year old crisis in Casamance, southern Senegal. Since 1982, the MFDC has been fighting government forces for self-government for Casamance, an agriculturally-rich area virtually separated from the rest of Senegal by The Gambia. One of the MFDC’s arguments is that Casamance was never a part of Senegal when it was under French colonial rule. At the end of its 5-9 August meeting, the MFDC also called on the Senegalese government to allow Guinea-Bissau and The Gambia as mediators in the negotiations, and to release all Casamance prisoners. It also denounced the presence of government forces in the area. Meanwhile, Guinea-Bissau Defence Minister Lucio Soares denied on Monday allegations that MFDC fighters had crossed into the country over the weekend. He however acknowledged “movements” along the border and said that reinforcements would be sent to the area, the Portuguese news service ‘Lusa’ reported. Reports that MFDC fighters have been crossing the border and have been using Bissau-Guinean territory as a base have been repeatedly denied by the authorities in Bissau.