CASAMANCE OF SENEGAL: A STALLED PEACE PROCESS

UNCLAS SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 000151 SIPDIS SIPDIS SENSITIVE DEPT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, DRL AND INR/AA E.O. 12958: N/A TAGS: PGOV PREL PINS PTER KDEM SG SUBJECT: CASAMANCE OF SENEGAL: A STALLED PEACE PROCESS ¶1. (SBU) Summary: A permanent peace in the Casamance remains elusive since the fragmentation of the MFDC (Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance) following the death of its founder Father Diamacoune Senghor and the resulting in-fighting amongst the group's military wing, Atika. President Abdoulaye Wade's undeclared strategy of maintaining the status quo in the hope that the rebellion will die a natural death has lead to an absence of significant dialogue between the GOS and the MFDC. Marijuana growing and highway robberies, and other illicit acitivies provide enough financial incentives for rebels to continue to stay in the MFDC. End summary. No Political Representation -------------- ¶2. (SBU) The MFDC's loose political structure did not survive the death of Father Diamacoune Senghor, leaving the government without an interlocutor that could speak for the whole of the MFDC. Those that now claim to speak for the group have little support and include Abdoulaye Diedhiou, who is in jail in the Gambia, and Nkrumah Sane, a hardliner who lives in exile in Paris. Ansoumana Badji, a former secretary general of the MFDC who maintains ties with President Wade's office while shuttling between Lisbon, Paris, Dakar and the Casamance, told the Embassy that Wade "believes that the conflict is over and is no longer listening." In his view, Wade thinks that sooner or later the MFDC will capitulate. This view seems to be corroborated by the fact that the Foundiougne negotiations to resolve the conflict have been abandoned and that the GOS no longer has a Casamance mediator. ¶3. (SBU) Jean-Marie Biagui, the current but not widely supported Secretary General of the MFDC told the Embassy he was disappointed SIPDIS with Wade's refusal to appoint two MFDC members to Senegal's Senate. Biagui argued that this would have given a voice to the MFDC within the country and paved the way for an integration of MFDC members within institutions after a negotiated settlement. Biagui, who is for decentralized rule in the Casamance, told the Embassy that Wade had initially accepted his proposition but reversed course when Presidential adviser, Pierre Atepa Goudiaby, a Casamance native, warned that this would cause serious divisions and tension within the Joola population, the leading ethnic group in the separatist movement. Fragmented Armed Groups and Interference -------------- ¶4. (SBU) Though fragmented, Atika has armed men in areas bordering both the Gambia and Guinea Bissau. Atika's leading commander Salif Sadio enjoys the protection of Gambian President Jammeh who gave him a safe haven following several attacks by a mix of Senegalese and Bissau Guinean soldiers and fighters from two rival branches within Atika led by Magne Dieme and Cesar Atoute Badiate. Dieme is the architect of a strategy, supported by Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, to kill Sadio and build a unified command with Badiate to restart talks with the GOS. However, there are unconfirmed reports that Dieme died while being interrogated by Gambian police who were trying to ascertain whether nor not his group supported former Gambian chief of staff Colonel Cham's coup attempt. For its part, the GOS remains quiet while Jammeh, who benefits from this conflict and who needs Joola support to stay in power, detains its MFDC "allies" as they believe that a decapitated and fragmented MFDC is more malleable than a unified one. Yet the Mood is Upbeat in the Casamance -------------- ¶5. (SBU) While talk of conflict and armed robberies continue, the mood amongst the people of the Casamance remains cautiously upbeat. During a recent trip to the region Poloff discussed the situation in the region with several NGOs and local activists and they were all unified in their belief that peace has never been closer. When asked why, they all emphasized that people have had enough of the conflict. Moroever, they contended that as older rebel leaders have died no younger ones have emerged with the ability to hold the rebellion together. Meanwhile, local NGOs, several with USG funds, are focusing their programs on conflict resolution, inter-communal dialogue, methods to achieve peace and young people. ¶6. (SBU) World Education, an American NGO working to improve the lives of the poor through economic and social development, has funded the creation of six community radios. For the first time, a medium now exists to give the various players in the conflict a means to express themselves and allow others to know what they think, the MFDC included. World Education Director Abdou Sarr told Poloff that this program has been so successful that they are being inundated with requests for assistance to help set up more community DAKAR 00000151 002 OF 002 stations. The stations have programs in all of Senegal's main languages as well as in local dialects. World Education monitors the programming to make sure that the focus remains on the peace process. He went on to say that they plan to increase the number of radio stations to 12 because they believe that the fundamental barrier to peace is a lack of communication between the many actors in this complex struggle. ¶7. (SBU) Ibrahim Ba, the director of CONGAD, a national umbrella organization for the many NGOs in Senegal, echoed a similar view, saying the MFDC is losing popular support and that there has been a clear reduction in the intensity of the conflict. However, he warned that some parties, mainly those involved in illegal logging and drug trafficking, had much to gain from keeping this conflict alive. He also lamented a lack of engagement from Dakar saying: "everybody in the region knows exactly what needs to be done to resolve conflict but all Dakar does is come here and bribe some people and leave." Still Ba remains upbeat: "In the past the conflict had widespread local support but nowadays that is no longer the case." Comment -------------- ¶8. (SBU) Although there seems to be widespread local support for an end to the conflict, prospects for a definitive negotiated peace settlement remain elusive, especially since the GOS seems to be favoring a policy to allow the MFDC to either simply wither on vine or to self-destruct by encouraging internal fighting within Atika and by bribing its political leaders. Thus, while the MFDC has been weakened, the frustrations that caused the rebellion in the first place are still there. Life in the Casamance is a juxtaposition of extreme poverty and insecurity for its inhabitants with abundant natural resources that have the potential to change the face of the region. Nowadays, the conflict has morphed from a fight for independence for the region into lucrative sources of income for rebels who have branched into marijuana growing, highway robbery, and illegal logging (the military is also alleged to be involved in illegal logging). Reportedly, the MFDC has gone so far as to gain control of orchards by mining the areas around them. This situation is likely to continue, given the GOS's lack of political will to resolve the conflict and the government's preoccupation with Wade's succession. ¶9. (SBU) There is, however, a significant risk that President Wade could lose the strategic gamble he is making. The Casamance region borders the fragile, quasi-narco state of Guinea-Bissau. While we have no reason to believe at this time that the MFDC is implicated in trafficking of South American cocaine from Guinea-Bissau, the danger is clear. The GOS barely controls the Casamance region and Senegal's borders are porous. SMITH