SENEGAL: Heads of state attend a parade in Dakar to mark country's 50th anniversary of independence from former colonial ruler France

Record ID: 449665

  • Title: SENEGAL: Heads of state attend a parade in Dakar to mark country's 50th anniversary of independence from former colonial ruler France
  • Date: 5th April 2010
  • Summary: VARIOUS OF MAJORETTE/TRADITIONAL DRUMS PLAYERS PERFORMING WADE AND HEAD OF STATES WATCHING
  • Embargoed: 20th April 2010 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Senegal
  • Country: Senegal
  • Topics: Domestic Politics
  • Reuters ID: LVA1UFQV3P2C4XLPSLI2OOW9WCRJ
  • Story Text: More than a dozen heads of state, including Zimbabwe's Robert Mugabe and Ivory Coast's Laurent Gbagbo, attended the parade in Dakar on Sunday (April 4) which was part of the celebrations to mark Senegal's 50th anniversary since independence from France.
    Earlier on Saturday (April 3), President Abdoulaye Wade inaugurated a monument to the "African Renaissance" -- a $28 million statue of a man, woman and child looming over Dakar slightly taller than the Statue of Liberty. Some residents complained the project was a waste of money in an impoverished country with crumbling infrastructure.
    On the eve of the celebration Wade said Senegal would take back military bases held by former colonial ruler France.
    "I solemnly declare that Senegal is taking back, starting April 4, all the bases on our soil previously held by France," he said late on Saturday in a televised speech.
    Senegal and France agreed in February on the drawdown this year of 1,200 French soldiers from an air base in the capital Dakar, one of three French bases still active in Africa.
    France has had a continued military presence in the country since decolonisation in 1960.
    Wade said Senegal's government would begin talks with French officials on the logistics of the handover.
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