Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Senegal
Newsline: Senegal embassy will be hub for Australia
A new embassy in Senegal will serve as a “hub” for Australia’s engagement with French-speaking Africa. The federal government’s 2012/13 budget includes funding for a new embassy in the Senegalese capital, Dakar, which will be Australia’s first diplomatic mission in Francophone Africa. The new post – coupled with a previously announced new mission in Chengdu, China – will cost the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade (DFAT) about $53 million over the next five years. A DFAT official says it will be a “small, lean mission” but will have responsibility for much of the region. “The new post in Senegal will serve as a hub for Australia’s broader diplomatic engagement in French-speaking West Africa,” the official said. Foreign Minister Bob Carr said the posting represented the growing importance of Australia’s ties to Africa. “It will provide a significant boost to Australia’s growing commercial and political interests in West Africa,” he said. Opening a mission in one of the roughly 30 French-speaking African countries was a key recommendation of a parliamentary inquiry into Australia’s ties with Africa last year. Australia’s missions in Africa are currently concentrated in eastern and southern Africa, particularly in former British colonies. The Dakar and Chengdu missions will bring the total number of Australia’s diplomatic missions to 97, still well below most other G20 nations.
http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/breaking-news-old/senegal-embassy-will-be-hub-for-australia/story-fn3dxity-1226351043878
Newsline: Ousted Mali Leader at Senegal Embassy in Bamako
Senegalese President Macky Sall says Mali’s ousted leader Amadou Toumani Toure is being sheltered at Senegal’s embassy in Bamako, Mali. Toure’s whereabouts had been previously undisclosed. Sall spoke in the French capital, where he signed new defense and financial agreements during his first official visit. Sall expressed concern about the security situation in West Africa, where Mali and Guinea Bissau have been shaken by coups. During a joint press conference with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, Sall said through the regional body ECOWAS that West African nations are trying to find a rapid and peaceful solution to Mali’s crisis. A coup there last month emboldened Tuareg rebels to seize control of the northern half of the country.
http://www.voanews.com/english/news/africa/Ousted-Mali-Leader-at-Senegal-Embassy-in-Bamako-147951775.html
Newsline: Senegal and US meet over diplomatic ties
Senegal’s President Abdoulaye Wade met with the US ambassador to Dakar who last week criticised his third term candidacy and was summoned by government, the presidency said. The president “wanted to discuss the position of the United States on the political situation in Senegal … marked by the fact that the opposition parties are themselves taking part in the electoral campaign. “In his response the ambassador [Lewis Lukens], taking into account the new context of participation of all the candidates, declared that the United States never asked President Wade to leave and supports no candidate,” read a statement. Lukens said his country simply wants a “peaceful, transparent and democratic” election, it added. Interviewed by state television after leaving talks with Wade, Lukens spoke of a “productive” meeting. On February 7 Lukens was summoned by Foreign Minister Madicke Niang after a critical interview given to local media. “It is regrettable that Wade has chosen to compromise the elections, to put the security of his country in peril by insisting on seeking a third mandate,” Lukens said in the interview. Earlier state department spokesperson Victoria Nuland said “the statesmanly-like thing to do would be to cede to the next generation and we think that would be better.”
http://mg.co.za/article/2012-02-14-senegal-and-us-meet-over-diplomatic-ties/
Newsline: US diplomat charged with abuse
A US diplomat has been charged with assault with a dangerous weapon after allegedly beating his wife while they lived in Dakar, Senegal, the Justice Department said. The indictment against Michael Makalou, 40, was handed down by a grand jury in Virginia. He faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted. The Justice Department said Makalou was a political officer at the US embassy in Dakar where he lived with his wife and children. According to an affidavit filed in the case, an argument erupted between Makalou and his wife on the morning ofAugust 13 2011. The Justice Department alleged that “Makalou then began to physically assault his wife, which included choking her, striking her head with closed fists and stomping on her back with his feet”. “As a result of the attack, Makalou’s wife suffered a concussion as well as lacerations to her gums, multiple contusions and bruising,” it said. The State Department’s Diplomatic Security Service investigated the case.
http://m.news24.com/news24/World/News/US-diplomat-charged-with-abuse-20111007
Newsline: US Embassy employees rescued from Senegalese island
A group of Americans including several United States Embassy employees were forced to spend the night in their swimsuits on a deserted island offSenegal’s coast this weekend after the ocean became too turbulent for their boat to cross, a military spokesman said. The 12 people, including a group of four women and a private party from the U.S. Embassy, had to be rescued by Senegal’s air force from the island which is visible from the coastal capital of Dakar. They became stranded on Ile de Madeleine on Saturday when the waves became too large for their small fishing vessels to leave the island’s cove, said spokesman Col. Abdourahim Kebe. Kebe said a second fisherman’s boat that attempted to enter the cove to rescue them Saturday overturned in the violent waves. Its Senegalese driver was knocked unconscious. They were left to huddle in their bathing suits and flimsy summer wear, covered only with their wet towels as night fell. Kebe said the helicopter arrived to rescue them on Sunday morning.
Newsline: Sweden to close six embassies, open 10 new ones
The Swedish government said it would close six Swedish embassies, including five in Europe, this year and open 10 new embassies. Embassies facing closure were based in European Union members Bulgaria, Ireland, Luxembourg, Slovakia, and Slovenia. “Within the framework of the close cooperation that exists between the EU member states, there is scope for developing new forms for maintaining bilateral contacts in future,” Foreign Minister Carl Bildt said. Meanwhile, Sweden is to upgrade its missions in Albania, Kosovo, Georgia and Moldova to embassies. The sixth embassy to be closed was in Dakar, Senegal, while section offices were to be upgraded in Senegal’s West African neighbours Burkina Faso, Liberia and Mali as well as Rwanda, Bolivia and Cambodia.
