The
Interior Ministries of The Gambia and Senegal have agreed to widen security
ties, as they signed a joint communiqué that capped a three-day security
cooperation summit of the two ministries.
Interior
Minister Mai Ahmad Fatty last week led a high ranking delegation of law
enforcement leaders to the Dakar summit - at the comradeship of his Senegal
counterpart Abdoulaye Daouda Diallo.
Minister
Fatty said: “When it comes to security, we must continue to work very closely
together. It is important for our countries to improve security co-operation
and exchange of information, as we have to deal with the existing security
challenges.
Relations
between The Gambia and Senegal are expanding and I know the two presidents;
President Adama Barrow and President Macky Sall are in close touch as we seek
to considerate a relationship that is showing enormous promise.”
Minister
Daouda Diallo said: “We have a long and deep relationship and our two countries
have to nurture this relationship. And we want the security agencies in our two
countries to work closely together as we seek to keep our countries safe.”
Meanwhile,
the joint communiqué underlined the importance of the meeting as it was an
opportunity to consolidate and strengthen “the new dynamic cooperation between
The Gambia and Senegal, consistent with the political will of the two heads of
state”.
The
communiqué read in part: “They agreed to reinforce security cooperation between
the two countries mainly in the area of exchange of information and
intelligence, exercise of cross border prosecution, sharing of experiences and
good practices, investigations and joint operations and training.
The
two minister condemned terrorism in all its aspects and expressed their
solidarity towards the victims of the recent attacks that took place in Burkina
Faso, Mali and Nigeria. They underlined their quality of cooperation between
Senegal and The Gambia in the fight against this scourge and reiterated their
resolve to work together to strengthen this cooperation in the mutual interest
of the two countries.
Concerning
the issue of border management, they underscored the necessity to as soon as
possible create the joint border control posts. They also agreed to implement a
strategy to fight any form of trafficking, namely humans, drugs and goods.”
