: President meets separatist leader

President Abdou Diouf held talks for the first time on Friday with the secretary-general of the separatist Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casamance (MFDC), Father Augustin Diamacoune Senghor, news organisations reported. The two leaders held their historic meeting lasting over an hour in the capital of the southern province of Casamance, Ziguinchor, Reuters said. Diouf had called for dialogue between the MFDC and the government earlier in the day in a broadcast address. “The time has come to talk to one another frankly, sincerely and fraternally,” Diouf was quoted as saying. Diamacoune, who is under house arrest near Ziguinchor, reaffirmed his commitment to the search for peace and the start of negotiations, the minister of state for agriculture and Ziguinchor mayor, Robert Sagna, told Senegalese radio. According to the Senegalese newspaper ‘Sud Quotidien’, the talks were “unanimously” welcomed by political leaders. The MFDC took up arms in December 1982 in support of the establishment of a sovereign state. Hundreds of soldiers, civilians and MFDC forces have died in the intermittent conflict. The Senegalese intervention in Guinea Bissau in June 1998 deprived the MFDC of rear bases in Guinea Bissau. Last November’s Guinea Bissau peace accord provided for an interposition force to maintain security along the border. Last October, Diamacoune called for a new peace process to bring together the various rebel factions.