DATE=4/12/2000
TYPE=CORRESPONDENT REPORT
TITLE=SENEGAL FIGHITNG (L ONLY)
NUMBER=2-261226
BYLINE=JOHN PITMAN
DATELINE=ABIDJAN
CONTENT=
VOICED AT:
INTRO: Three Senegalese soldiers have been killed in
a battle with separatist rebels in Senegal's
Cassamance province. V-O-A West Africa Correspondent
John Pitman reports the Senegalese army says its
troops were attacked near the border with Guinea-
Bissau on Tuesday, and that 15 rebels also died in the
fighting.
TEXT: Rebels in Senegal's southern Cassamance
province have been waging a bloody independence
campaign against the central government in Dakar for
the past 18 years.
Tuesday's attack was the latest confrontation between
guerrillas belonging to the pro-independence group,
the Movement of Democratic Forces for Cassamance, or
M-F-D-C, and the Senegalese Army.
According to the army, several dozen rebel fighters
crossed into Senegal from a base in Guinea-Bissau and
attacked an army outpost near the village of Sare Waly
(pron. Saar Wally)
Mamadou Diallo, a journalist who covers Cassamance for
the independent daily newspaper Wal Fadjri, tells V-O-
A the attack occurred around six in the morning.
/// DIALLO ACT ONE -IN FRENCH - FADE UNDER ///
Speaking by telephone from Kolda, the second largest
city in Cassamance, Mr. Diallo said the rebels
attacked the military camp and burned the village. It
was during this battle, he says, that the three
soldiers were killed and seven were wounded.
The army initially downplayed the attack, reporting
only the deaths of the 15 rebels. However, when local
journalists investigated the story, they uncovered the
government casualties. The army has since confirmed
the death toll and has evacuated the wounded soldiers.
/// REST OPT ///
The M-F-D-C has not claimed responsibility for the
attack, but journalist Mamadou Diallo says this is
not uncommon for the group.
/// DIALLO ACT TWO -IN FRENCH - FADE UNDER ///
Mr. Diallo says that each time there is an attack, he
presumes it is the rebels, and people who live in the
region believe it is the rebels because the attacks
take place so close to the border with Guinea-Bissau.
The rebels have long used Senegal's southern neighbor
as a launching pad for attacks inside Cassamance.
Guinea-Bissau's former president, Joao Bernardo Viera,
was even accused of supplying the rebels with weapons
until he was overthrown in a coup last May.
Guinea-Bissau's new president, Kumba Yalla, who was
elected in January, has promised to work more closely
with Senegal's government. According to Mr. Diallo,
this closer cooperation includes sharing military
intelligence about the movement of suspected rebels in
Guinea-Bissau. Recently, Mr. Diallo said, authorities
in Guinea-Bissau reported that several rebel fighters
had moved from the capital, Bissau, to a remote area
just 15 kilometers from the Senegalese border.
This closer cooperation has been welcomed by Senegal's
newly elected president, Abdoulaye Wade, who says his
first trip abroad will be to Bissau to discuss the
Cassamance situation with Mr. Yalla.
The government in Dakar signed a cease-fire with the
rebels last December, and President Wade has said he
wants to meet with rebel leaders to hammer out a
broader peace agreement.
But despite the truce, hard-core elements of the M-F-
D-C's armed wing have continued to fight, even
attempting to disrupt Senegal's presidential election
in February.
Journalist Mamadou Diallo says president Wade will
have a tough time negotiating with these militants who
have vowed to stop at nothing until they win
independence for the region.
/// DIALLO ACT THREE -IN FRENCH - FADE UNDER ///
Mr. Diallo says it will not be an easy task,
especially -- in his words -- "when you consider the
members of the armed wing who have said they prefer
armed struggle." Mr. Diallo adds this militant wing
of the M-F-D-C has ignored the recent political
changes in Senegal -- including Mr. Wade's election -
and remains committed to independence at any cost.
(Signed)
NEB/JP/JWH/gm
12-Apr-2000 12:34 PM EDT (12-Apr-2000 1634 UTC)
NNNN
Source: Voice of America
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