VZCZCXRO8675
RR RUEHPA
DE RUEHJL #0024/01 0111727
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
R 111727Z JAN 06
FM AMEMBASSY BANJUL
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC 6307
INFO RUEHZK/ECOWAS COLLECTIVE
RUEHLMC/MILLENNIUM CHALLENGE CORP
RUFGNOA/HQ USEUCOM VAIHINGEN GE

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 BANJUL 000024 
 
SIPDIS 
 
SIPDIS 
 
DAKAR PLS PASS ODC AND DAO 
 
E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/11/2016 
TAGS: PREL PGOV ETRD ELTN EWWT SG GA
SUBJECT: THE GAMBIA: READOUT ON CONSULTATIONS WITH SENEGAL 
 
REF: A. 05 BANJUL 860 
 
     ¶B. BANJUL 749 
 
BANJUL 00000024  001.2 OF 002 
 
 
Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOSEPH STAFFORD, REASON 1.4 (B AND D) 
 
SUMMARY 
------- 
 
¶1. (C) Foreign Affairs Permanent Secretary Taal provided 
upbeat readout on the December 28-29 session of the 
Senegalese/Gambian Joint Consultative Committee (JCC), 
explaining the decision to place the Gambia River bridge 
project under the auspices of the "Gambia River Basin 
Development Organization (OMVG).  He said the two sides 
addressed in cooperative fashion the heretofore thorny issue 
of increases in tariffs for the Gambia River ferries heavily 
used by Senegalese transporters.  Taal stressed importance of 
reviving the "Senegalo-Gambian Permanent Secretariat," while 
noting that target date of July 1 was contingent on 
availability of funds.  He asserted that the JCC had not 
taken up the Casamance, while mentioning agreement on plans 
for joint border patrols.  Taal downplayed significance of 
JCC discussions on legal cooperation.  Judging from Taal's 
readout, this latest JCC session provided further momentum 
for GOTG/GOS rapprochement, but it remains to be seen how 
closely the two sides will adhere to the ambitious calendar 
for next steps on key projects. END SUMMARY. 
 
GAMBIA RIVER BRIDGE PROJECT 
--------------------------- 
 
¶2. (C) In January 10 conversation, Foreign Affairs Permanent 
Secretary Ebou Taal provided upbeat readout on the December 
 
SIPDIS 
28-29 meeting in Banjul of the Senegalese/Gambian Joint 
Consultative Committee (JCC), co-chaired by The Gambian Vice 
President and the Senegalese Prime  Minister (ref a). Taal, 
who participated in the discussions, said the two principal 
agenda items were the Gambia River bridge project and 
bilateral transport issues.  On the bridge project, he hailed 
the decision at the JCC to place it under the auspices of the 
Gambia River Basin Development Organization (OMVG).  Taal 
explained that presenting the project as a regional, rather 
than bilateral (Senegalese/Gambian) endeavor would give 
greater encouragement to foreign donors to provide funds.  He 
added that the OMVG context also made sense given the keen 
interest of all of the organization's four member states 
(Guinea and Guinea-Bissau as well as The Gambia and Senegal) 
in the bridge's operation.  Taal stated that the existing 
OMVG projects -- Sambangalou and Keleta dams in Senegal and 
Guinea, respectively -- would serve as models for the 
operation of the Gambia River bridge, as would public works 
projects of another sub-regional organization, the "Senegal 
River Basin Development Organization" (OMVS). 
 
TRANSPORT ISSUES 
---------------- 
 
¶3. (C) Addressing the bilateral transport dossier, Taal said 
the two sides addressed in cooperative fashion the previously 
contentious issue of tariffs for the Gambia River ferries 
heavily used by Senegalese transporters moving between 
northern Senegal and the Casamance. (NOTE: It was the GOTG's 
abrupt decision in August to impose hefty tariff increases 
without prior consultation with the GOS, as required by their 
bilateral transport agreement, that sparked the two-month 
bilateral crisis, including closure of Senegal's border with 
The Gambia.  See ref b for background, The tariff increases 
were rescinded as part of the October 21 agreement in Dakar 
that defused the crisis. END NOTE.)  He said that at the JCC 
meeting the Senegalese side had concurred in the GOTG's 
"right" to increase tariffs, provided there was prior 
consultation, and that the GOTG would soon present a new 
tariff increase package for review by the GOS.  On other 
transport matters, Taal said the two sides had reached 
agreement on a long-standing, nitty-gritty issue -- 
establishment of a "pool" of Senegalese- and 
Gambian-registered  vehicles authorized to transport 
passengers between the two countries. 
 
PERMANENT SECRETARIAT 
--------------------- 
 
¶4. (C) Taal underscored the importance of another topic at 
the JCC, the restoration of the "Senegalo-Gambian Permanent 
Secretariat" that had existed prior to the two countries' 
 
SIPDIS 
confederation experiment in the 1980's.  He said the 
restoration of this institution to manage relations between 
the two governments, in lieu of standard diplomatic missions, 
was long overdue.  Taal said the two sides had yet to decide 
 
BANJUL 00000024  002.2 OF 002 
 
 
on whether, as before, to have the Secretariat based in 
Banjul and headed by a Senegalese official.  He thought there 
was a good chance that the Secretariat could be up and 
running by the target date of July 1, 2006, while 
acknowledging that the feasibility of this time frame was 
contingent on the requisite budgetary resources being 
identified. 
 
CASAMANCE AND OTHER ISSUES 
-------------------------- 
 
¶5. (C) Asked whether the JCC had covered the Casamance issue, 
Taal responded in the negative, citing the parties' past 
agreement that this dossier was best handled, not at JCC 
sessions, but in separate discussions between the two 
countries' senior  military and security officials and in 
contacts at the head-of-state level.  Asked about the 
discussion of "defense and security" issues at the JCC, per 
the joint communique, he spoke of agreement on plans for 
joint border patrols. (COMMENT: despite  Taal's denial, it is 
difficult to imagine that the Casamance issue failed to 
surface in some context at the JCC, especially since military 
and security officials were present in both delegations.  END 
COMMENT.)  Asked about the reference in the joint communique 
to "reinvigorate" the "Agreement on Mutual Assistance in the 
Field of Criminal Justice,"  Taal downplayed its 
significance, saying the differing origins -- French and 
British -- of the two countries' modern legal systems 
somewhat constrained cooperation in the judicial area.  When 
queried about a possible extradition treaty, he  professed 
ignorance as to whether a formal agreement existed, but said 
that informal arrangements for extradition of common 
criminals between the two countries seemed to work 
effectively. 
 
COMMENT 
------- 
 
¶6. (C) Taal, a veteran diplomat, claims in-depth knowledge of 
official Senegalese/Gambian relations, citing previous 
service as Ambassador to Senegal and as an official with the 
Permanent Secretariat in the late 1960's.  He portrayed the 
JCC as fully successful in fulfilling what he cast as the two 
sides' primary objective -- producing agreement on the way 
forward regarding the Gambia River bridge project.  He also 
pointed to the next steps and time lines  enshrined in the 
joint communique -- e.g., deliberation on the bridge project 
at an OMVG meeting in January, bilateral working group 
meeting on the Secretariat's restoration in February -- as 
indicative of the two sides' determination to move smartly on 
key dossiers.  Of course, the extent to which the parties 
adhere to the joint communique's ambitious calendar for 
projects remains to be seen; but at this point we judge that 
this latest JCC meeting provided further momentum for 
GOTG/GOS rapprochement underway since the October 21 summit 
in Dakar.  END COMMENT. 
STAFFORD