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The release of the seven Senegalese soldiers of the West African force by the separatist rebels of Casamance gives hope for a relaunch of discussions for a peace process.
If the Senegalese general staff took ” act of this gesture, there was little reaction in the political class following the release of the seven Senegalese soldiers of the West African force by the separatist rebels of Casamance. However, this gesture might have an impact on the peace talks launched 10 years ago.
The gesture of Salif Sadio of the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC) to release the soldiers, unconditionally, is a way to relaunch the discussions, which had hitherto been in slow motion, believes Nouha Cissé, observer of this crisis.
« It’s a way of restarting the machine, a way of remembering that he (Salif Sadio), he is there, and that he presents himself as an essential interlocutor in the management of the Casamance conflict and effectively making it possible to relaunch these negotiations which shone all the opacity that there is around that and also say the non-effectiveness “, he comments.
« It’s the eternal restart”
The populations are rather indifferent. Their concern is to be able to return to their villages of origin, often polluted by mines. And for some, like Demba Keïta, deputy of the presidential majority who crisscrosses the villages located south of Ziguinchor, it is not on dialogue that we must bet, but on local development.
« It is the eternal restart. When we talk regarding discussions, negotiations, what are we going to discuss? What they currently want is to work for the security of Casamance in a global way and to support the development process, but also to accelerate the process of reconstruction of basic community infrastructure, but also the houses “, he says.
Last year, a vast operation by the Senegalese army liberated a number of localities near the border with Guinea-Bissau.
