| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa Subsaharan |
| Sall denies Senegal facing 'Islamist threat' |
| 2012-07-10 |
| [Daily Nation (Kenya)] Senegal ... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees... 's President Macky Sall has denied that the country was facing threats due to radicalisation of Islamists. President Sall was responding to questions by the French media in Gay Paree about the rise of Islamist politicians and threat from Al-Qaeda operatives in the Magreb and Sahel. For the first time, five Islamist leaders won seats in the country's 150-member parliament during last week's legislative elections. Senegal is a majority Moslem country although it remains a secular state. Islamist politicians have kept out of politics until now almost 53 years after independence. Analysts told the local media following the election that the rise of Islamist politicians was spurred by the dwindling confidence in mainstream politicians over their failure to deliver on their promises. "Senegal is not threatened by the radicalisation of Islamic leaders, but by terrorist action because we have moderate Islam and a Moslem brotherhood in our country...this is what is known," President Sall, who is himself a Moslem, said. |
| Posted by:Fred |