Senegal welcomes Gambian mediation

Senegal has welcomed an offer by Gambia to help mediate in the conflict in the southern province of Casamance.

The Senegalese ambassador, Madieng Kharyf Dieng, said an intervention by President Yahya Jammeh would help move the problem forward.

Mr Jammeh is of the same ethnic Diola people from which the Casamance rebels are drawn.

The Senegalese president, Abdou Diouf, has repeated his willingness for talks, but has ruled out independence for the province, where fighting has recently increased.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service