Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
06BANJUL24
2006-01-11 17:27:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Banjul
Cable title:  

THE GAMBIA: READOUT ON CONSULTATIONS WITH SENEGAL

Tags:  PREL PGOV ETRD ELTN EWWT SG GA 
pdf how-to read a cable
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INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
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RUFGNOA/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE
C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANJUL 000024 

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DAKAR PLS PASS ODC AND DAO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV ETRD ELTN EWWT SG GA
SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: READOUT ON CONSULTATIONS WITH SENEGAL

REF: A. 05 BANJUL 860


B. BANJUL 749

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Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH STAFFORD, REASON 1.4 (B AND D)

SUMMARY
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C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANJUL 000024

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DAKAR PLS PASS ODC AND DAO

E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2016
TAGS: PREL PGOV ETRD ELTN EWWT SG GA
SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: READOUT ON CONSULTATIONS WITH SENEGAL

REF: A. 05 BANJUL 860


B. BANJUL 749

BANJUL 00000024 001.2 OF 002


Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH STAFFORD, REASON 1.4 (B AND D)

SUMMARY
--------------


1. (C) Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Taal provided
upbeat readout on the December 28-29 session of the
Senegalese/Gambian Joint Consultative Committee (JCC),
explaining the decision to place the Gambia River bridge
project under the auspices of the "Gambia River Basin
Development Organization (OMVG). He said the two sides
addressed in cooperative fashion the heretofore thorny issue
of increases in tariffs for the Gambia River ferries heavily
used by Senegalese transporters. Taal stressed importance of
reviving the "Senegalo-Gambian Permanent Secretariat," while
noting that target date of July 1 was contingent on
availability of funds. He asserted that the JCC had not
taken up the Casamance, while mentioning agreement on plans
for joint border patrols. Taal downplayed significance of
JCC discussions on legal cooperation. Judging from Taal's
readout, this latest JCC session provided further momentum
for GOTG/GOS rapprochement, but it remains to be seen how
closely the two sides will adhere to the ambitious calendar
for next steps on key projects. END SUMMARY.

GAMBIA RIVER BRIDGE PROJECT
--------------


2. (C) In January 10 conversation, Foreign Affairs Permanent
Secretary Ebou Taal provided upbeat readout on the December

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28-29 meeting in Banjul of the Senegalese/Gambian Joint
Consultative Committee (JCC),co-chaired by The Gambian Vice
President and the Senegalese Prime Minister (ref a). Taal,
who participated in the discussions, said the two principal
agenda items were the Gambia River bridge project and
bilateral transport issues. On the bridge project, he hailed
the decision at the JCC to place it under the auspices of the
Gambia River Basin Development Organization (OMVG). Taal

explained that presenting the project as a regional, rather
than bilateral (Senegalese/Gambian) endeavor would give
greater encouragement to foreign donors to provide funds. He
added that the OMVG context also made sense given the keen
interest of all of the organization's four member states
(Guinea and Guinea-Bissau as well as The Gambia and Senegal)
in the bridge's operation. Taal stated that the existing
OMVG projects -- Sambangalou and Keleta dams in Senegal and
Guinea, respectively -- would serve as models for the
operation of the Gambia River bridge, as would public works
projects of another sub-regional organization, the "Senegal
River Basin Development Organization" (OMVS).

TRANSPORT ISSUES
--------------


3. (C) Addressing the bilateral transport dossier, Taal said
the two sides addressed in cooperative fashion the previously
contentious issue of tariffs for the Gambia River ferries
heavily used by Senegalese transporters moving between
northern Senegal and the Casamance. (NOTE: It was the GOTG's
abrupt decision in August to impose hefty tariff increases
without prior consultation with the GOS, as required by their
bilateral transport agreement, that sparked the two-month
bilateral crisis, including closure of Senegal's border with
The Gambia. See ref b for background, The tariff increases
were rescinded as part of the October 21 agreement in Dakar
that defused the crisis. END NOTE.) He said that at the JCC
meeting the Senegalese side had concurred in the GOTG's
"right" to increase tariffs, provided there was prior
consultation, and that the GOTG would soon present a new
tariff increase package for review by the GOS. On other
transport matters, Taal said the two sides had reached
agreement on a long-standing, nitty-gritty issue --
establishment of a "pool" of Senegalese- and
Gambian-registered vehicles authorized to transport
passengers between the two countries.

PERMANENT SECRETARIAT
--------------


4. (C) Taal underscored the importance of another topic at
the JCC, the restoration of the "Senegalo-Gambian Permanent
Secretariat" that had existed prior to the two countries'

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confederation experiment in the 1980's. He said the
restoration of this institution to manage relations between
the two governments, in lieu of standard diplomatic missions,
was long overdue. Taal said the two sides had yet to decide

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on whether, as before, to have the Secretariat based in
Banjul and headed by a Senegalese official. He thought there
was a good chance that the Secretariat could be up and
running by the target date of July 1, 2006, while
acknowledging that the feasibility of this time frame was
contingent on the requisite budgetary resources being
identified.

CASAMANCE AND OTHER ISSUES
--------------


5. (C) Asked whether the JCC had covered the Casamance issue,
Taal responded in the negative, citing the parties' past
agreement that this dossier was best handled, not at JCC
sessions, but in separate discussions between the two
countries' senior military and security officials and in
contacts at the head-of-state level. Asked about the
discussion of "defense and security" issues at the JCC, per
the joint communique, he spoke of agreement on plans for
joint border patrols. (COMMENT: despite Taal's denial, it is
difficult to imagine that the Casamance issue failed to
surface in some context at the JCC, especially since military
and security officials were present in both delegations. END
COMMENT.) Asked about the reference in the joint communique
to "reinvigorate" the "Agreement on Mutual Assistance in the
Field of Criminal Justice," Taal downplayed its
significance, saying the differing origins -- French and
British -- of the two countries' modern legal systems
somewhat constrained cooperation in the judicial area. When
queried about a possible extradition treaty, he professed
ignorance as to whether a formal agreement existed, but said
that informal arrangements for extradition of common
criminals between the two countries seemed to work
effectively.

COMMENT
--------------


6. (C) Taal, a veteran diplomat, claims in-depth knowledge of
official Senegalese/Gambian relations, citing previous
service as Ambassador to Senegal and as an official with the
Permanent Secretariat in the late 1960's. He portrayed the
JCC as fully successful in fulfilling what he cast as the two
sides' primary objective -- producing agreement on the way
forward regarding the Gambia River bridge project. He also
pointed to the next steps and time lines enshrined in the
joint communique -- e.g., deliberation on the bridge project
at an OMVG meeting in January, bilateral working group
meeting on the Secretariat's restoration in February -- as
indicative of the two sides' determination to move smartly on
key dossiers. Of course, the extent to which the parties
adhere to the joint communique's ambitious calendar for
projects remains to be seen; but at this point we judge that
this latest JCC meeting provided further momentum for
GOTG/GOS rapprochement underway since the October 21 summit
in Dakar. END COMMENT.
STAFFORD