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Casamance separatists prepare for peace talks

[Niger] Halilou Habou tends his crop of millet. Residents of the Niger village of Damana are full of joy and relief that after this year's food shortages, the new harvest looks big. [Picture taken: August 2005] Souleymane Anza/IRIN
Thanks to good rains and much to residents relief, crops are flourishing in some corners of Niger
    DAMANA

    Separatist leaders of southern Senegal's troubled Casmance area were meeting the Gambian capital Banjul this week to reach a joint consensus for talks with the government aimed at ending a conflict which started in 1982, local media reports said on Tuesday.

    Abbe Diamacoune Senghor, leader of the Mouvement des forces democratiques de Casmance (MFDC), said earlier the aim of the talks with other MFDC factions was to approach the government of President Abdou Diouf with a "united strategy".

    The reports said he had already held a meeting at the weekend with Gambian President Yahya Jammeh who has repeatedly offered to help mediate in the conflict.

    Diamacoune met Diouf in January, after both agreed that dialogue would be the only way to resolve the issue. No details of the talks underway this week have been disclosed.

    This article was produced by IRIN News while it was part of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. Please send queries on copyright or liability to the UN. For more information: https://shop.un.org/rights-permissions

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