Senegal's president said Sunday the West African country was reclaiming three French military bases to mark its 50th year of independence from France. In Paris, however, officials said the bases' future was still under discussion.
President Abdoulaye Wade announced that the government would retake the bases which house some 1,200 troops, effective immediately. He said the handover would mark the final step in Senegal's separation from its former colonial master. Senegal gained independence from France in 1960.
"The presence of these French bases after all these years is seen as more and more out of place" and gives many people the impression of "incomplete independence," he said.
French Foreign Ministry spokesman Bernard Valero, however, countered that Senegal has always had "total sovereignty" over the French bases on their soil.
Wade's comments came two years after French President Nicolas Sarkozy announced a major overhaul of his nation's policies toward Africa, saying that its military agreements were outdated and that France had no interest in keeping its forces permanently on the continent.
By: Brant
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