BORDER TENSIONS BETWEEN SENEGAL AND GUINEA-BISSAU

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 DAKAR 001328

SIPDIS

DEPARTMENT FOR AF/W, AF/RSA, INR/AF

E.O. 12958: DECL: 10/22/2019
TAGS: PRL PBTS PU SG
SUBJECT: BORDER TENSIONS BETWEEN SENEGAL AND GUINEA-BISSAU

REF: AMBASSADOR MARCIA S. BERNICAT FOR REASONS 1.5 B/D.


1. (SBU) Summary: Tension is growing along the border
between Guinea-Bissau and Senegal, although both governments
insist there is no conflict. Nevertheless, there is a
dispute over the use of land near the tourist area of Cap
Skiring in a place called Cap Roxo. The Senegalese were a
no-show at a meeting the GOGB had proposed take place on
October 22, but the two sides are scheduled to meet on
October 24. In the interim, the GOGB has sent approximately
700 soldiers to reinforce its armed forces near the border.
End summary.


2. (SBU) In spite of several public comments from
Guinea-Bissau President Malam Bacai Sanha, and the personal
assurances of newly appointed Senegalese Minister of Foreign
Affairs Madicke Niang to the Ambassador that the border
dispute between Senegal and Guinea-Bissau is much ado about
nothing, tension is growing along the border between the two
countries. Numerous press reports and Embassy contacts
confirm that the Bissau-Guinean armed forces have been sent
to the border area as a result of a dispute involving land
that belongs to Guinea-Bissau, but has long been cultivated
by Senegalese peasants. According to numerous sources, the
proximate cause of the dispute revolves around plans by
Belgian investors to build a hotel on a small piece of land
on the coast near the tourist destination of Cap Skiring in
Senegal (home to a temporarily closed Club Med resort). The
area, known as Cap Roxo (or Cabo Roxo),is more easily
accessible from the Senegalese side of the border, somewhat
analogous to the relationship of Baja California to the rest
of Mexico.


3. (SBU) Ostensibly, Senegalese cultivation of the land was
not a problem due to the cross-border family and ethnic ties
of the people in the area. In spite of this habitual land
use, the central government of Senegal agrees that the land
in question belongs to Guinea-Bissau, according to Foreign
Minister Niang comments to the Ambassador and PolCouns on
October 19. He and his Chief of Staff, Ambassador Mankeur
Ndiaye, assured the Ambassador that there was no dispute,
with the Minister going as far as to say, "These Senegalese
are wrong." However, local Senegalese (it is not clear who)
reportedly gave authorization to the Belgian developers to
build a hotel. As a result, the local Bissau-Guinean
provincial governor reportedly went to Cap Roxo to reassert
his country,s sovereignty. (Note: Some sources have made
the conflicting claim the problem is actually that Senegalese
peasants, who have cultivated the fields in this area for
generations, object to Bissau-Guinean authorities permitting
investors from building a hotel on the land in question. End
note.)


4. (C) Miguel Sousa, a Portuguese political officer serving
in the European Union (EU) Security Sector Reform (SSR)
Mission in Guinea-Bissau, told Political Counselor that he
had been informed by senior Bissau-Guinean officers that
their government deployed approximately 700 troops near the
border. Sousa said newly confirmed Armed Forces Chief of
Staff Naval Captain Zamora Induta personally oversaw the
assembling of troops in the town of Sao Vincente in the north
of Guinea-Bissau, organized a parade and gave a speech
explaining to them that their duty as soldiers was to protect
the motherland. As a result of this buildup, Bissau-Guineans
in the area reportedly fled south into their country and
Senegalese in the area moved north into theirs. In addition,
Guinea-Bissau has reportedly begun controlling the border,
inspecting people's travel documents and, in some cases,
detaining people.


5. (C) On the Senegalese side of the border, a USAID locally
employed staff member and his German development cooperation
counterpart both reported a significant rise in tension in
the Casamance capital of Ziguinchor. Underscoring the level
of concern, both commented that people in Ziguinchor were
more worried about the emerging border dispute than the
recent escalation in violence between the Movement of
Democratic Forces in the Casamance. However, in spite of
this tension, Embassy sources report that the GOS has not
ordered an increase in the number of troops in the Casamance.
(Comment: It is worth noting that there is already a
contingent of 2,500 to 3,000 Senegalese troops in the region
due to the ongoing conflict with the separatist MFDC
movement. Moreover, Senegal's forces are already stretched
thin due to peacekeeping deployments and the additional

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deployment of forces along the border with Guinea (Conakry).
End comment.)

Senegalese and Bissau-Guinean Governments in Talks
-------------- --------------


6. (SBU) Both governments have been at pains to insist that
there is no dispute over the demarcation. Bissau-Guinean
Defense Minister Artur da Silva visited Dakar on October 14
in an attempt to quickly resolve the matter. However, the
governors of the Kolda and Casamance regions of Senegal
failed to meet their GOGB counterparts on October 22 in the
town of Sao Domingo in Guinea-Bissau to discuss the issue.
The Embassy was told the GOS representatives did not attend
the meeting because the GOGB proposed the date and location
for the encounter, but did not bother to wait for a
confirmation. Consequently, the two sides were scheduled to
meet in Bissau on October 24.

There's More at Stake than Farms and a Hotel
--------------


7. (SBU) There is another element to the border dispute.
Guinea-Bissau has sued Senegal twice in the International
Court of Justice over the demarcation of the maritime
boundary. At stake are the rights to oil offshore.
Apparently the exact demarcation of the border in Cap Roxo
could have a significant impact on determining the share to
which either country is entitled.


8. (C) Comment: While Senegal heretofore has not appeared to
take the dispute very seriously, it is clear that the
Bissau-Guineans do. While the prospect of armed conflict
between the two armed forces seems to be low, there is a risk
nonetheless given the heightened state of alert and ongoing
operations of the Senegalese armed forces against a recently
resurgent MFDC. To wit, on the same day that the two
countries, governors were supposed to meet in Sao Domingo,
the Senegalese army engaged MFDC rebels not far away just
south of Ziguinchor. Moreover, if it turns out that
Bissau-Guinean army deserters have taken up arms with MFDC
rebels as has been alleged (septel),the scope for tensions
potentially boiling over into something more violent would
grow.
BERNICAT