Augustin Diamacoune Senghor, rebel leader

THE Reverend Augustin Diamacoune Senghor, a rebel leader who fought for an independent state in Senegal’s southern Casamance region for decades, has died.

He was 78. The Roman Catholic priest died on Saturday in a Paris hospital, where he had been treated for kidney problems since late October.He was not related to Leopold Sedar Senghor, Senegal’s first president after the country gained independence from France in 1960.Separatist rebels in southern Senegal have waged a low-level struggle for independence since 1982.They claim France never fully colonised Casamance, so it should be separate from Senegal, which gained independence in 1960.The region is cut off from much of the rest of Senegal by Gambia.Senghor’s body was expected to be repatriated to Senegal, but there was no word on when, Biagui said.Born April 4 1928, in Senghalene, outside of Ziguinchor, the regional capital, Senghor worked as the director of a Catholic seminary in Ziguinchor from 1972 to 1975 and became a literature professor at a college in the same town.Becoming involved in politics, he helped start the MDFC rebel movement and took over its leadership from its start in 1982.He was imprisoned twice for subversive activities, first from 1982-1987, then again from 1990-1991.He was freed in 1991 under a general amnesty granted as part of one of many failed cease-fire agreements meant to halt the fighting.Senghor signed the latest peace deal with President Abdoulaye Wade in 2004.Though the region has remained peaceful enough to attract tourists in recent years, sporadic attacks and road ambushes still occur.In December, rebels attacked an army convoy, killing two soldiers and injuring more than a dozen.Power struggles for leadership of the rebel movement have erupted.Rebels split into rival factions and took up arms against each other in April 2006 in fighting that killed dozens of people and forced thousands of civilians to flee.Nampa-APThe Roman Catholic priest died on Saturday in a Paris hospital, where he had been treated for kidney problems since late October.He was not related to Leopold Sedar Senghor, Senegal’s first president after the country gained independence from France in 1960.Separatist rebels in southern Senegal have waged a low-level struggle for independence since 1982.They claim France never fully colonised Casamance, so it should be separate from Senegal, which gained independence in 1960.The region is cut off from much of the rest of Senegal by Gambia.Senghor’s body was expected to be repatriated to Senegal, but there was no word on when, Biagui said.Born April 4 1928, in Senghalene, outside of Ziguinchor, the regional capital, Senghor worked as the director of a Catholic seminary in Ziguinchor from 1972 to 1975 and became a literature professor at a college in the same town.Becoming involved in politics, he helped start the MDFC rebel movement and took over its leadership from its start in 1982.He was imprisoned twice for subversive activities, first from 1982-1987, then again from 1990-1991.He was freed in 1991 under a general amnesty granted as part of one of many failed cease-fire agreements meant to halt the fighting.Senghor signed the latest peace deal with President Abdoulaye Wade in 2004.Though the region has remained peaceful enough to attract tourists in recent years, sporadic attacks and road ambushes still occur.In December, rebels attacked an army convoy, killing two soldiers and injuring more than a dozen.Power struggles for leadership of the rebel movement have erupted.Rebels split into rival factions and took up arms against each other in April 2006 in fighting that killed dozens of people and forced thousands of civilians to flee.Nampa-AP