Diplomatic Briefing
Your exclusive news aggregator handpicked daily!Archive for Senegal
Newsline: Zimbabwe ambassador to Senegal found dead in Dakar
Zimbabwe’s ambassador to Senegal and The Gambia, Trudy Stevenson, has been found dead in Dakar on Friday. The 73-year-old diplomat was reportedly discovered at her residence by her chauffeur when he reported for duty. The Zimbabwean foreign affairs and international trade ministry confirmed the death of the diplomat, but could not shed more light, saying government was yet to talk to the family. “It is true Ms Stevenson has passed, but we are yet to get in contact with all the relatives,” an official in the ministry said. Stevenson, a founding member of the MDC opposition party, was appointed ambassador to Senegal and The Gambia in 2009 when the then Robert Mugabe-led Zanu-PF joined hands with the late Morgan Tsvangirai’s MDC-T and Welshman Ncube’s MDC party to form the Government of National Unity (GNU). She remained the only opposition political figure in diplomatic posting after others were recalled at the expiry of the GNU.
https://www.iol.co.za/news/africa/zimbabwe-ambassador-to-senegal-found-dead-in-dakar-16726525
Newsline: Man allegedly threatens to kill Trump, shoot up Senegal embassy in DC
Wesley Pinkney noticed a strange man in a Mercedes-Benz, parked outside his Columbia Heights apartment building, for three whole days. “I said, something ain’t right with this guy, and as I walked up the steps, I said, see something, say something,” Pinkney said. On Saturday, Secret Service agents had that man, now identified as Freddy Possian, of D.C., in handcuffs. Authorities said Possian made six threatening 911 calls early Saturday morning. In one, he declared: “Mayday, mayday, the White House has been taken over.” In another, he allegedly claimed to be Osama Bin Laden — vowing to shoot-up the Embassy of Senegal located in downtown D.C. The Secret Service says Possian forced them to close two blocks of Pennsylvania Avenue, plus up security at the White House.
Newsline: Turkish Embassy construction fuels protests in Senegal
Protests over the construction of a new Turkish embassy in the Senegalese capital Dakar have highlighted anger in the West African nation over a property boom that is swallowing the coastline and squeezing ordinary people’s budgets. Riot police teargased protesters and arrested 23 people at a demonstration last week alongside a breeze-block wall constructed to house the embassy compound on a picturesque stretch of Dakar’s coast, where luxury villas, hotels and shopping centres have sprung up in recent years. Built on a peninsula reaching into the Atlantic Ocean, the city of three million is growing at breakneck speed, fuelled by migrants from rural Senegal and neighbouring countries. Hemmed in by water on three sides, Dakar’s population is on track to hit five million by 2025, experts say. Civil society groups have formed a movement called “No to the wall” to oppose the embassy’s construction amid growing opposition to the development of coastal areas used by residents to relax, walk and exercise. They say the embassy’s compound wall blocks access to a long stretch of pristine coastline. Some rights groups accuse new President Macky Sall’s government – which authorised the embassy’s construction on the protected coastline despite opposition from Dakar’s city council – of riding roughshod over civil liberties by banning and dispersing protests.
http://af.reuters.com/article/investingNews/idAFKBN0D609I20140420
Newsline: Russian Embassy Seeks Explanation From Senegal Over Detained Trawler
The Russian Embassy in Dakar has asked Senegal’s Foreign Ministry to explain the detention of the Oleg Naidenov trawler, Russia’s Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday. The Russian trawler was detained by the Senegalese navy Saturday off the coasts of Senegal and Guinea-Bissau on suspicion of illegally fishing in Senegal’s waters. It was escorted to the port of Dakar, where it was put under military police guard. “The Russian Embassy has contacted Senegal’s Foreign Ministry for an explanation of [its] military personnel’s actions in regard to the Russian fishing vessel,” the statement said. “In cooperation with representatives of the Russian Federal Fisheries Agency in Dakar, our diplomats are taking further steps for its soonest release and return to sea.” Agence France Presse news agency cited Senegal’s Fisheries Minister Haidar El Ali as saying Sunday that the country planned to fine the trawler’s owner about $800,000 for repeated illegal fishing in its waters. Yury Parshev, executive director of Feniks, the company that owns the Oleg Naidenov, insists the trawler was fishing legally in Guinea-Bissau’s waters. The Federal Fisheries Agency also denies any wrongdoing by the ship, which is believed to have been carrying a crew of 62 Russians and about 20 nationals of Guinea-Bissau. Russian Embassy and Federal Fisheries Agency officials will meet with Senegal’s president, Macky Sall, on Tuesday to discuss the situation.
Newsline: Nigeria Starts Inquiry Over Attack On Embassy in Senegal
The Federal Government in Abuja said that it had constituted a board of inquiry on the attack on Nigeria’s Embassy in Dakar, Senegal. The News Agency of Nigeria ( NAN) recalled that on March 4, a group of Nigerians resident in Dakar attacked the embassy over an alleged disappearance of a corpse of a Nigerian, Mr Kingsley Irogbulam, from a Senegalese mortuary. Irogbulam was allegedly killed in June 2012 by his Senegalese business partner under a mysterious circumstance. Mr Olugbenga Ashiru, Minister of Foreign Affairs, announced this at an investigative hearing organised by the House of Representatives Committee on Foreign Affairs. He said a strong protest had been made to the Senegalese authorities, especially over the failure of the police to respond promptly to the distress call. In her testimony, Mrs Katyen Jackden, Nigeria’s Ambassador to Senegal, said a distress call was made to the nearest police station some few metres away from the chancery for help. According to her, the police only responded after 30 minutes, after the attackers had departed. She blamed the police for not making any attempt to arrest any of the culprits.
Newsline: Nigerian Embassy in Senegal attacked
The Nigerian Embassy in the Senegalese capital Dakar was attacked with its premises invaded and staff injured, the Foreign Ministry said. Some Nigerians residing in Senegal stormed the embassy, beating up some staff and vandalizing the building, according to the ministry. The aggrieved persons were reportedly disappointed over the refusal by the Nigerian Embassy and Consulate to help retrieve the body of a dead Nigerian.
http://www.businessghana.com/portal/news/index.php?op=getNews&news_cat_id=&id=179689
Newsline: U.S. Embassy in Senegal warns of bomb threat to Dakar
The U.S. Embassy in Senegal said it had received information of a bomb threat to the capital Dakar. In a text message to U.S. citizens, the embassy advised its nationals to stay away from the city centre until further notice but did not give any further details. A Senegalese security source confirmed the threat and said the authorities had taken “necessary measures”. The United States and African governments are backing a five-week-old French military campaign against Islamist rebels in Senegal’s neighbour Mali. Senegal has sent several hundred troops to join an African force being deployed to Mali. Islamists have threatened to strike back at anyone who supports the mission. France, which has about 18,000 citizens in Senegal, said it did not have any information on a possible threat.
http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/02/22/us-senegal-threat-idUSBRE91L0NF20130222
Newsline: Iran, Senegal plan to reopen embassies
The Iranian deputy foreign minister for Arab and African affairs says Iran and Senegal are set to reopen embassies in each other’s countries following the resumption of bilateral relations. “Our country is in the process of sending an ambassador to Dakar,” said Hossein Amir-Abdollahian in a Saturday interview. He expressed optimism that Dakar would also reopen its embassy in Tehran and appoint an ambassador soon. Following the meeting of the Iran’s President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad and Sall on the sidelines of the 12th summit of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation in the Egyptian capital, Cairo, on February 6, the two presidents announced the resumption of bilateral ties, which had been severed in 2011, and the reopening of the two countries’ embassies.
http://www.presstv.ir/detail/2013/02/10/288205/iran-senegal-set-to-reopen-embassies/
Newsline: Senegal reduces diplomatic missions abroad
Senegal has announced that it was shutting down two of its 43 embassies as well as two of its 11 consulates in several parts of the world. The move is in keeping with President Macky Sall’s pledge following his election victory in March this year. President Sall had argued that the move would help the country to recover millions of dollars that were “badly needed and could be diverted to more useful purposes at home”. A government statement, quoted by the local daily L’AS, named Liberia and Cuba as the two countries where Senegal’s embassies have been ordered closed. Hence, no allocation has been made in the 2013 budget for the embassies in Monrovia and Havana, as well as its consulates in Havre (near Paris), Luanda and Brazil. The report further indicated that the Senegal would also shut down its consulates in Houston (USA) whose facilities have reportedly been packed and were being transported to the embassy in New York. In Kingston, Angola and Gambia, the consulates have been ordered closed while the reduced staff in Banjul has been redirected to work with the embassy there. A similar scenario has been designed for Cote d’Ivoire where the consulate will be closed and its reduced staff redirected to work with the country’s embassy there. In Beirut, the embassy staff will be reduced by half from 12; whereas the economic representation in Singapore, as well as the consulate of Guanghzou, and the position of the representative of the World Trade Council, will be cancelled. The newspaper further disclosed that even though the budget for some missions would suffer from drastic cuts, others would be reinforced. Hence, the paper said, the budget of the mission in New York would rise from $315,188 to $374,216, whereas that of Senegal’s representation to the UN would rise from $631,076 to $687,662 per year.
Newsline: Netherlands moves embassy from Senegal to Ghana
The Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands accredited to Sierra Leone and based in Senegal, Ambassador Pieter Jan Kleiweg De Zwaan, has informed the government of Sierra Leone that its Embassy in Dakar Senegal will be closed and relocated to Accra in Ghana. He said his government will be covering Sierra Leone, through their Embassy in Ghana. This he noted is as a result of some of their missions being closed in Africa. “However’ he said “there would be exceptions for diplomatic applications to be processed in Senegal” Ambassador De Zwaan added that applicants from Sierra Leone should in the interim first contact the Dutch Embassy in Senegal for enquiries on +221338490360 or Fax +221338217084 or through its web- http://www.nlambassadedakar.org.
Diplomatic Briefing 