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Africa Subsaharan

Macky Sall Defeats Incumbent President Wade, Hails 'New Era'

2012-03-27

[Tripoli Post] Senegal's ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... President Abdoulaye Wade Another octogenarian wannabe president-for-life... ...if he's made it to octogenarian then he's no longer a wannabe... Though he does seem to have failed at the "for life" bit. conceded defeat to challenger Macky Sall late Sunday as initial results in the presidential run-off election showed the opposition candidate with a commanding lead. As thousands of his supporters began celebrating in the streets of the capital, Dakar, particularly in front of his headquarters soon as the results came in, Macky Sall, said the poll marks a "new era" for the country, stressing that the people were the main winners in the poll. Although official results from Sunday's election are not expected before Tuesday, people danced and sang for joy, honking their horns, with thousands more descending on Independence Square to celebrate. The Senegalese Press Agency said 85-year-old Wade, "phoned his rival Macky Sall at 23.30 (CET) to congratulate him after the first results showed him to be the winner of a presidential run-off" vote. It helped ease fears that Wade, who had controversially changed the constitution to allow himself a third term, would try to stay in office or challenge the victory of Sall, his former protege. Wade, who has ruled the West African nation for 12 years, lost in a number of key voting areas including in his home precinct in Dakar. Thijs Berman, the head of the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... observer mission to Senegal, said the results were very clear - about 65% for Mr Sall and 35% for Mr Wade so "there is no hesitation as to who is the winner". The election comes just days after a military coup in neighbouring Mali. Mr Wade brought in a two-term limit for presidential office, but argued that the limit should not apply to his first term which came in before the constitution was changed. His argument was upheld by the constitutional court in January, prompting widespread protests in which six people died.

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Africa Subsaharan

Wade predicts doom if he loses election

2012-03-22

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Apparently uncertain of victory in the second round, President Abdoulaye Wade has said civil servants will begin to go without salaries only two months after his departure. The president's statement has thrown a cold chill in the spines of many in Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... where unlike many other countries in the sub region, civil servants have never experienced salary arrears for even a week since independence in 1960. Almost instantly, the man billed to become the next leader, Mr Macky Sall described the statement as "a sad and outdated electoral scam intended to dissuade good-intentioned citizens." Media reports today quoted the Senegalese leader as saying that "many investors who had good intentions about our country are pulling back due to the campaign that has been mounted against me.'' He added: "Even the admirable infrastructural projects that I have begun and currently executing can only be done by me and no one else." President Wade made the statement apparently in response to his challenger's assertion that ''I am the man behind all those beautiful infrastructure you can see across the country.'' Mr Sall, a former Wade premier who is contesting the second round against his former boss, says he persuaded President Wade to remove the long awaited infrastructural plans from the shelves and implement them when he served as Premier from 2004 to 2008 and could do better if he won the election set for March 25. Analysts told the Nation that the outgoing president's statements concerning the financial difficulties the country was facing were directly in response to media reports on Tuesday which allege that the ruling party campaign budget has been exhausted. Following that report, President Wade on Tuesday night admitted that "Senegal is presently going through a serious financial crisis" but added that his re-election will help overcome those apprehensions. For nearly a week now, the opposition coalition has been accusing President Wade of buying votes from the electorate as it did in many opposition strongholds during the first round and hence the exhaustion of the ruling party campaign budget. Some voters confessed on independent media this week that they had received money in return for ballots during the first round. Some insisted that they would accept any monies paid to them in exchange of ballots while many others explained that they have been fully educated on the ills it entails and will refuse further bribes.

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Africa Subsaharan

Senegal opposition join forces to back Wade challenger

2012-03-12

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Senegal's ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... opposition joined forces Sunday in a mass rally to block 85-year-old President Abdoulaye Wade from landing a third term in office and back challenger Macky Sall. I can't for the life of me figure why nobody ever seems to want to be an ex-president... The 12 presidential candidates who fell out of the running in a first round of voting on February 26 have formed a coalition they hope will usher ex-prime minister Sall into power. Wade is facing a stiff battle to retain power at the March 25 poll after a strong opposition showing crushed his hopes of overall victory in the first round and forced him into a run-off. Sunday's rally will take place at Obelisk Square, the site from where a month of violent protests against Wade's candidacy began in the run-up to the election, leaving six dead and over 150 injured. The election in a country known as a haven of stability in troubled west Africa is being closely watched by foreign allies concerned about one of their reliable African partners. Sall, 50, on Saturday announced the launch of the Alliance of Forces for Change coalition which will be backing him in the run-off election. "It is the synergy of all our forces, our energy and out means. Together we will go and conquer votes, together we will win and together we will lead Senegal," he told journalists. All the runners-up, who together totalled 60 per cent of first round votes to Wade's 34.8 per cent, have come out in support of Sall going into the run-off.

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Africa Subsaharan

Senegalese police fire tear gas at opposition demo

2012-02-19

DAKAR, Senegal: Senegalese riot police fired tear gas at protesters Friday on a main commercial boulevard in the capital, after the country’s opposition went ahead with a protest in defiance of a government ban. Demonstrators are calling for the departure of 85-year-old President Abdoulaye Wade, who is running for a third term in next week’s election. His actuarial survival is about five years starting at age 85. How long is the term of office? The increasingly tense atmosphere on the ground has many concerned that there may be unrest if Wade is declared the winner of the vote. He has told reporters he expects to win with a clear majority. On Avenue William Ponty, police used grenade launchers to throw volleys of tear gas down the wide boulevard, at one point hitting a mosque full of worshippers. Small groups of youths tried to defy them, with a dozen or so braving the police cordon. They held their arms up in an X, a symbol used by the opposition to denote the bound hands of the people in this normally placid nation of 12 million. “Liberate the people,” they screamed, before being chased back by the police. Senegal is just a week away from a much-anticipated presidential election, the first in five years. Electoral law allows candidates to hold rallies in the pre-election period, but the interior minister issued a statement this week saying that he had refused to authorize the protests because of the threat to public order. He described the various demonstrations that have disrupted daily life in Senegal for the past two weeks as “a crime spree by vagabonds.” On Wednesday and Thursday, police sparred with the packs of protesters who set fire to tires, pulled down lamp poles, smashed signs and set alight the wooden tables used by market women to sell their wares. Abdoul Aziz Diop, a spokesman for the M23 coalition of opposition parties, said that their supporters had refused to respect the ban because it is unconstitutional. A 61-year-old woman who is part of the opposition was led away by police, screaming as reporters crowded around to interview her. Madiguene Cisse had fought since the 1980s to help get Wade elected, and voted for him in 2000 when he first came to office, in an election that marked the end of 40 years of socialist party rule. “It’s not easy to uproot a baobab tree that has been there for 40 years,” she said outside the central commissariat, after she was released. “At the end of our pain, we expected things to change. Wade — when he was in the opposition — used to tell the youth, if you don’t have a job raise your hand. Well, our hands are still in the air.” The president, who is a few months shy of his 86th birthday, has angered the population by refusing to step aside at the end of his second term. If he wins the Feb. 26 election, he will be in office past his 92nd birthday in a nation where the average life span is 59. He is also running for a third term, even though he oversaw a revision of the constitution in 2001 that imposed a two-term maximum. And just revised again. Funny how that works out in dictatorships. There's always a reason why the country needs the stability and leadership that only El Jefe can provide. Ask Pencilneck and Saleh... Compared to demonstrations elsewhere in Africa, the ones in Senegal have been restrained. Four people have been killed in two weeks of unrest, compared to the death toll in election violence last year in Ivory Coast, in which dozens were killed in the same period of time. The violence here is jarring, though, because of Senegal’s history, which has long been a model of stability in the region. Unlike in Ivory Coast, in Congo, in Guinea and in Nigeria — all countries where recent election violence led to a brutal crackdown resulting in a high death toll — police in Senegal generally use only tear gas and rubber bullets to control the crowds. Even after a policeman was stoned to death with cinderblocks at a recent protest, security forces did not retaliate with anything more than truncheons, tear gas and water cannons. But in a worrying sign on Friday, reporters saw a policeman open fire with a pistol after rioters hurled rocks at a police truck, causing one of the officers to fall off the side on Lamine Gueye Avenue. No one was hurt by the live rounds. People later retrieved the bullets, holding them up angrily in front of TV cameras. Shopkeepers barricaded their stores and the vendors who normally hawk their wares on William Ponty were standing to the side, their goods bundled up. “We are people that make ends meet by selling things on the street,” said 60-year-old Mountaga Diallo, a plastic bag full of plastic bottles hoisted over his shoulder. “Our country isn’t rich. There’s no gold. There’s no diamonds. ... This entire week, I’ve earned nothing. ... We can be poor, but if we don’t even have peace than we are really in trouble.”

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Africa Subsaharan

Senegalese rally anew against president's bid for third term

2012-02-07

[Iran Press TV] The Senegalese ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... have held another demonstration in the capital Dakar against octogenarian President Abdoulaye Wade's decision to stand for a third consecutive term in office. As campaigning for the February 26 presidential election officially kicked off on Sunday, hundreds of protesters gathered in Dakar's Obelisk Square, the epicenter of the months-old protest movement against Wade. "The goal is to be united for the start of the electoral campaign," said Cheikh Tidiane Dieye, an opposition leader with the June 23 Movement (M23) that called for the demonstration. "This is not your typical campaign... We are going to ramp up the struggle for the withdrawal of Wade's candidacy," he added. Eight of the 13 opposition candidates, who are united under the M23, joined Sunday evening's demonstration. Tensions escalated in the West African nation on January 27 after the Constitutional Council, appointed by Wade and known as the "five wise men", gave the 85-year-old president the green light to run in the February election. The legality of Wade's bid for a third term has been challenged. Wade, who was first elected in 2000, ending 40 years of rule by the Socialist Party, revised the constitution in 2001 to impose a two-term limit for the president. He argues that he is exempt because he was elected before the new law was drafted. In the court's ruling, the judges stated that Wade's first term under the new constitution should be the one that started when he was first re-elected in 2007.

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Africa Subsaharan

Senegal opposition urges more 'resistance' after riots

2012-01-29

[Pak Daily Times] Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... 's opposition called on Saturday for more 'resistance' against President Abdoulaye Wade, after a night of riots over his plans to run for a third term in elections next month. Local media reported that one policeman was killed during the riots, in which protesters threw rocks, overturned cars and burned tyres and security forces fired tear gas, raising worries of growing instability in West Africa's most peaceful nation. Calm had returned to the capital Dakar by morning and security boosted around the presidential palace. Truckloads of police in full riot gear patrolled the city, armed with tear gas grenade launchers, according to a Rooters witness. "We are asking the people to remain alert and to resist Abdoulaye Wade," Abdoul Aziz Diop, the front man for opposition activist movement M23 told Rooters by telephone on Saturday. "If Wade tries to impose himself on us ... we will resist." He said that opposition figures and activist leaders were meeting on Saturday to discuss their next steps. The festivities came after Senegal's top legal body late on Friday night validated the candidacy of 85-year-old Wade and 13 rivals for the Feb. 26 vote, but turned down the presidential bid of world music star Youssou N'Dour, saying he did not have the required 10,000 signatures of support. Wade's rivals say the constitution sets an upper limit of two terms on the president. But Wade, who came to power in 2000 and was re-elected in 2007, has argued his first term pre-dated the 2001 amendment establishing the limit. Wade appeared on state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe? late on Friday and made an appeal for calm, promising elections would be free and fair. "Stop these displays of petulance which will lead to nothing," he said. "The electoral campaign will be open. There will be no restrictions on freedom." Senegal is the only country in mainland West Africa to have not had a coup since the end of the colonial era. February's poll, and a possible run-off a few weeks later, are seen as a test of social cohesion in the predominantly Moslem country. Critics say that Wade, who spent 26 years in opposition to Socialist rule, has done nothing during his 12 years in power to alleviate poverty in a country where formal employment is scarce, and has dragged his heels on tackling official graft. Wade points to spending on education and infrastructure projects such as roadbuilding as proof of progress towards turning Senegal into an emerging market country and a trade hub. His candidacy has raised eyebrows abroad. The senior US State Department official for Africa, William Fitzgerald, told French RFI radio that Wade's candidacy was "a bit regrettable". Rival presidential hopeful Amsatou Sow Sidibe called on Wade to withdraw his candidacy voluntarily. "Peace and tranquility in Senegal depends on it," she told.

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Africa Subsaharan

Wade orders army to pursue fleeing rebels into Gambia

2011-12-23

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] An infuriated Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... ese President Abdoulaye Wade has ordered the country's armed forces to pursue the fleeing separatist rebels "everywhere even inside Gambia". ... The Gambia is actually surrounded by Senegal on all sides but its west coast. It has a population of about 1.7 million. The difference between the two is that in colonial days Senegal was ruled by La Belle France and The Gambia (so-called because there's only one of it, unlike Guinea) was ruled by Britannia... President Wade gave the orders yesterday in Dakar in the aftermath of a deadly separatist rebel attack on Tuesday that killed about ten soldiers in the troubled southern Casamance region. "They could be hiding in the forests and across the border to the Gambia, but pursue them wherever they may be found and let them face the law", President Wade told the army. Analysts say the president's orders were to move the public attention from the political crisis rocking the country as he moves to contest a controversial third mandate. It is also believed that the order could be inimical to the already tense relationship between the two neighbouring countries that was heightened by last year's Iranian arm shipment alleged destined for the Gambia. The shipment which was aborted and confiscated in Nigeria, led Senegal and Gambia to break diplomatic ties with Iran with Senegal arguing that the arms were intended for the rebels. Like many Senegalese, President Wade is of the firm conviction that the Movement des Forces Democratique de Casamance (or Mfdc) which are fighting to obtain independence of the region are backed by neighbouring Gambia and Guinea Bissau.

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Africa Subsaharan

Massive show of force for Senegal's Wade

2011-07-25

[Dawn] Hundreds of thousands turned out in support of Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... 's President Abdoulaye Wade on Saturday, in a massive show of force by the 85-year-old leader who is seeking a controversial third term in office. The ruling party rally dwarfed an opposition protest held earlier in the day to pressure Wade to drop his plans to contest February 2012 elections, which his critics say is unconstitutional. But a defiant Wade countered with his rally which saw hundreds of thousands of people swarming the boulevard in front of the ruling party's headquarters in Dakar, an AFP journalist said. Speaking to thunderous applause he congratulated the country for holding two peaceful rallies a month after violent riots plunged the capital into chaos. "Senegal has shown its maturity ... we want peace that allows everyone to express themselves and to vote, but once the verdict is passed it must be accepted, and we must become brothers once again," Wade said. Senegal's Information Minister Moustafa Guirassy said between 1.8 and two million people were at the ruling Senegalese Democratic Party (PDS) rally. "I came to support Wade who achieved in 10 years that which no president before him did," said Dieynaba Sidibe from Tambacounda in the south-east. The massive show of force by the ruling party came a few hours after an opposition rally where between 10,000 and 50,000, depending on sources, turned out to demand Wade ditch his plans to run for a third term in office. "No to a third term for Wade", "Wade go, Wade out" read placards brandished by protesters, who had to move their rally to the suburbs after political gatherings were banned in downtown Dakar earlier this week. "Wade said (in 2007) he wasn't going to run again, he must respect his word. All Senegal's problems come from him," said one protester, Alpha Ciss. While the president has acknowledged he did say this, he has since said he has the right to change his mind. Major opposition leaders such as Ousmane Tanor Dieng of the Socialist Party (PS), civil society figures and former Wade allies such as ex-prime minister Idrissa Seck, addressed the crowd. "This mobilisation shows the determination of the Senegalese people to put an end to Wade's regime. They have been heard. Abdoulaye Wade cannot be a candidate, Abdoulaye Wade will not be a candidate," said Abdoulaye Bathily of the Democratic League. The protests come one month to the day after riots broke out as parliament examined proposed changes to election laws, leaving over 100 injured in the biggest demonstrations since Wade came to power in 2000. The changes were later shelved because of the pressure from the street and harsh criticism from abroad. The proposed changes would have added a vice president to the presidential ticket and dropped the winning threshold for a first-round victory to 25 per cent of the votes from the current 50 per cent. Wade's critics believe he is trying to smooth the way for his 42-year-old son Karim to succeed him without having to run for office himself. Karim Wade is considered too unpopular to win on his own ticket. The president has dismissed the claim. The national debate has heightened tension in the west African country, a bastion of stability in a troubled region which has always known a peaceful transfer of power and never undergone a coup d'etat. Senegal's first president after independence from La Belle France in 1960, Leopold Senghor, resigned after two decades in office in favour of his prime minister Abdou Diouf in 1981, who accepted defeat when trumped by Wade. Wade was first elected for a seven-year term in 2000 and again in 2007 for a five-year mandate after a constitutional change shortened the presidential term. According to the constitution, the president can only serve two terms. However Wade's supporters say this provision only came into play after the change in the law -- which would mean he is entitled to seek another term in office. Wade's camp says the final decision rests with the constitutional council.

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Africa North

Powers plot 'post-Kadhafi' as rebels eye cash

2011-06-09

Key powers met Thursday to map out what Washington calls an inevitable "post-Kadhafi Libya" as more signs emerged the strongman wants out and more than one billion dollars flowed toward the rebels. The United States joined Australia and Spain in recognising the rebels' National Transitional Council (NTC) as the legitimate representative of the Libyan people, following the example of several others countries including France, Italy and Britain. Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade, meanwhile, urged Libyan leader Moamer Kadhafi to step down, "the sooner the better," as he became the first head of state to visit the rebels' eastern bastion of Benghazi. Thank you Mr. Sarkozy for 'suggesting' that the president of an important French client state visit. We should do a few more of these. US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and counterparts from NATO and other countries participating in air strikes against Kadhafi's forces wound up talks on Libya in the United Arab Emirates capital Abu Dhabi. "Kadhafi's days are numbered. We are working with our international partners through the UN to plan for the inevitable: a post-Kadhafi Libya," Clinton told participants, according to her prepared remarks. War Powers Act, you ask! We work for and take our orders from the UN now, not some silly concept like "national interest" "Time is on our side," she said, adding the international military, economic and political pressure was mounting on the Libyan colonel to abandon his four decades in power.

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Africa Subsaharan

Senegal 'arrests' suspected coup plotters

2011-03-20

[Al Jazeera] Authorities in Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... have placed in durance vile a number of suspects believed to have been plotting a coup d'etat in the West African state. "The state prosecutor has decided to nip in the bud a plot aimed at a coup d'etat by arresting a number of individuals identified as members of the plot," Justice Minister Cheikh Tidiane Sy said in a statement read out on state television on Saturday. Tidiane Sy said authorities had learned that "commandos" linked to opposition groups had been planning a number of actions around the capital which would have resulted in deaths. He said the suspects had targeted areas including the sprawling Sandaga market in downtown Dakar, a stretch of the corniche road which runs around the city centre, and the working class Parcelles-Assainie district further north. He gave no further details. Saturday's protest The arrests were announced hours before a protest rally against the government of President Abdoulaye Wade scheduled for Saturday in the capital Dakar and which has been backed by a broad coalition of opposition parties. The protest marks the 11th anniversary of Wade's presidency and is being held in Dakar's central Independence Square, which organisers are dubbing "Tahrir Place" for the day in homage to the epicentre of Egypt's uprising. Tidiane Sy confirmed the demonstration would be allowed to be held as planned. Few expect the protest to gain the momentum being seen across the Middle East, although it is being closely watched for how big a turnout the country's fragmented opposition can draw less than a year before Wade faces re-election in February 2012. Opposition leaders accuse the octogenarian leader of bending constitutional rules to allow himself to stand for a third term, and suspect him of nurturing plans to engineer the succession of his son Karim Wade as president afterwards -- charges he denies. The mostly Mohammedan country is rare in the region in that it has a tradition of peaceful transition of power through the ballot box. Recently donors have raised concerns about levels of official corruption, which Wade has said he is determined to fight.

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Africa North

Wade and Gaddafi call for joint army

2010-12-16

[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Libyan leader Moamer Qadaffy pushed again Tuesday his dream for a sole African government and was backed by Senegal's President Abdoulaye Wade as he urged the creation of a single African army. Dressed in flowing gold robes, Libya's maverick leader told a ceremony at a festival in Senegal celebrating black identity and culture that Africa was "experiencing a new submissiveness". He described the continent as "prey that all the world's wolves want to devour" by monopolising its mineral resources or fisheries. "Down with imperialism! Africa must unite, so that we do not again become serfs or slaves," he said. "It is necessary to establish a unity government for the African continent and that Africa has one army ... which could consist of a million soldiers," he said. "Even the South African army is worthless to Nato or the United States of America. Even Libya is not even able to protect its territorial waters alone." Africa's longest-standing Arab leader having been in power for 41 years, Qadaffy appeared to improvise his speech, which was made in Arabic and translated simultaneously into French. He said African leaders who "do not want to put in place a single African army" were "agents of imperialism, myopic, or traitors who do not think about the future of Africa." "It is not enough to dwell on the past of the continent, we were treated like animals, we were hunted in the forest, they enslaved us ... they appropriated Africa. But why fight for liberation, if we remain satellites of our colonial powers?"

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Africa Subsaharan

Senegal to 'take back' French bases at midnight: president

2010-04-04

DAKAR -- Senegalese President Abdoulaye Wade announced his country was taking back military bases held by former colonial power France at midnight as the country marked 50 years of independence Sunday. "I solemnly declare that from 00H00 (GMT) April 4 Senegal will take back all the (military) bases formerly held by France and intends to exert its sovereignty," Wade said in an address to the nation on public television. "Regarding the time frame for the release of these bases, I have asked the prime minister and army chief of staff to begin talks with the French side." Oh -- this did not happen at midnight, as of midnight discussions will be scheduled to negotiate what the French might be persuaded to agree to. Not nearly as impressive as throwing those damned Frenchies off sacred Senegalese soil, heels over head. Wade was speaking Saturday on the eve of celebrations to mark the 50th anniversary of Senegal's independence from France, on April 4, 1960. As Wade spoke, French Interior Minister Brice Hortefeux was arriving to represent France at Sunday's ceremonies, which will include a military parade in which French soldiers will take part. "This year will be different from the others," said Wade at the start of his speech. Following independence, Senegal had agreed to let its former colonial masters France keep military bases there, he said. "Over the years, this situation has appeared more and more incongruous and has often been felt by our populations, particularly young people, civil servants and the army, as an incomplete independence," he added. In Paris, a French defence ministry spokesman told AFP talks between the two countries were ongoing on future cooperation and the maintenance of a smaller French force on Senegalese territory. On Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy raised the question of their military presence in Senegal in a message to Wade, in which he said France wanted to maintain political and military cooperation. He is not attending the ceremonies in Senegal marking the 50th anniversary of independence. France and its former colony Senegal have been bound by a defence agreement since 1974, and 1,200 French soldiers are currently "pre-positioned" in Dakar at one of three permanent French bases in Africa. On February 19 Wade's spokesman Mamadou Bamba Ndiaye told AFP "the French military bases will leave Dakar in virtue of an agreement signed by both parties" ahead of the April 4th independence celebrations. The French defence minister confirmed the same day that Paris intended to close its military bases in Senegal but intended to preserve a "centre of military cooperation with a regional purpose." At the end of February Sarkozy announced that only 300 soldiers, 900 fewer than there are today, would stay in Dakar.

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