THE GAMBIA: RAPPROCHEMENT WITH SENEGAL CONTINUES

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANJUL 000121

SIPDIS

SIPDIS

DAKAR PLS PASS DAO, ODC

E.O. 12958: DECL: 02/27/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV ETRD ELTN EWWT GA SG
SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: RAPPROCHEMENT WITH SENEGAL CONTINUES

REF: A. 05 BANJUL 860 ET AL


B. BANJUL 24

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Classified By: Ambassador Joseph Stafford, reason 1.4 (b and d)

AGREEMENT ON RE-ESTABLISHMENT OF PERMANENT SECRETARIAT
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1. (SBU) Judging from reported official Senegalese/Gambian
contacts of late, the two countries' rapprochement process
following their August/October 2005 crisis over transport and
border issues continues to advance (ref a provides background
on the crisis). Building on Gambian President Jammeh's
October 2005 discussions in Dakar with the Senegalese and
Nigerian Presidents and the December 28-29, 2005 meeting of
the Senegalese/Gambian Joint Consultative Committee (JCC) in
Banjul (ref b),the two sides' Foreign Ministers, according
to the local media, met in Dakar February 25-26 and reached
agreement on a plan for re-establishing the "Senegalo-Gambian
Permanent Secretariat" in existence prior to the countries'
confederation experiment in the 1980's. The two Ministers
reportedly agreed to maintain the target date of July 1,
2006, established at the December gathering, for the
resurrected Permanent Secretariat to be operational.

PROGRESS ON TRANSPORT ISSUES
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2. (SBU) The two sides have also made progress recently on
transport issues, according to Gambian media reporting of a
late January meeting in Banjul of the bilateral working group
responsible for implementation of the parties' November 2004
Road Transport Agreement. Reportedly, the delegations,
co-chaired by the Gambian Permanent Secretary for Works and
the Senegalese Director of Land Transport, reached agreement
on a heretofore tough, nitty-gritty issue -- allocation of
permits to Senegalese- and Gambian-registered vehicles for
transport of passengers across Senegalese/Gambian border
areas. The press reported that the meeting also produced a
decision to reduce the "excessive" number of police
checkpoints along traffic arteries linking the two countries
so as to facilitate movement of goods and passengers between
them. There was reportedly discussion of the sensitive
matter of tariff increases for the Gambia River ferries
heavily used by Senegalese transporters moving between
Northern Senegal and Casamance. The two sides announced that
the GOTG was preparing a tariff increase package for GOS
perusal, but gave no further details. (NOTE: It was the
GOTG's abrupt decision in August 2005 to impose hefty tariff
increases without prior consultation with the GOS, as
required by the relevant bilateral agreement, that sparked
the two-month bilateral crisis, including closure of
Senegal's border with The Gambia. END NOTE.)

UPBEAT ASSESSMENT BY SENEGALESE AMBASSADOR
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3. (C) In recent conversation with Ambassador, Senegalese
Ambassador Ndiougha Ndiaye indicated satisfaction with the
state of the Senegalese/Gambian relationship, citing
substantial progress in the rapprochement since the 2005
crisis. He asserted that the GOTG, after years of
foot-dragging, was now proving cooperative on a long-standing
Senegalese priority -- construction of a bridge across The
Gambia River to facilitate overland travel between the two
portions of Senegal separated by Gambian territory. Noting
the decision at the December JCC meeting to place the bridge
project under the auspices of the Gambia River Basin
Development Organization (OMVG),he expressed confidence that
the upcoming OMVG meeting in Dakar would witness agreement on
an action plan for the project, including solicitation of
donor support. Asked about a previously thorny bilateral
issue -- Casamance -- Ndiaye said the GOS "has no problems
with the Gambians" on this score. The Senegalese Ambassador
remarked that Jammeh seemed to be respecting pledges made at
the Dakar summit in October 2005 to refrain from any meddling
on behalf of Casamance rebel elements and to ensure that
Gambian authorities cooperated with Senegalese counterparts
on such issues as denying refuge to rebels in Gambian
territory.

COMMENT
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4. (C) The December 2005 JCC meeting produced various
specific timetables for achievement of bilateral objectives
-- e.g., the July 1, 2006 target date for re-activation of
the Joint Permanent Secretariat. While the timetables
established at the 2004 JCC gathering in Dakar proved to be

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dead letters, this latest JCC gathering appears to have
generated genuine impetus for cooperation on key bilateral
concerns, the Gambia River bridge project, in particular. A
key factor for this impetus is doubtless the GOTG's
eagerness, following the August/October 2005 crisis, to avoid
provoking renewed confrontation with their far more powerful
neighbor. END COMMENT.
STAFFORD