Senegal skips Bissau border meet, civilians flee

By Alberto Dabo

SAO DOMINGOS, Guinea-Bissau (Reuters) - Senegalese authorities failed to attend a border meeting on Wednesday aimed at easing tensions with neighbour Guinea-Bissau that have led to a military build-up in the region, officials said.

Fearing an outbreak of violence, dozens of Bissau-Guinean civilians stacked belongings on their heads and abandoned their homes in the border town of Sao Domingos, underscoring tensions on the border between two nations with a history of disputes.

The long list of rows has been caused by disagreements over ownership of potential oil reserves and Dakar's accusations that previous administrations in Bissau harboured southern Senegalese separatist rebels during a 27-year conflict.

"Given the Senegalese side has not turned up, we are forced to delay until another day this meeting between the authorities from the two countries," Pedro Embalo, governor of the Bissau-Guinean province of Gabu, told reporters.

No reason was given for the Senegalese no-show but Embalo said the two sides had rescheduled the meeting for Friday.

Bissau-Guinean sources said earlier this week that the former Portuguese colony had sent several battalions of soldiers to its northern border after suspected separatists launched a number of attacks on the Senegalese army and other targets.

Both West African nations have dismissed local media reports of a border dispute and Senegal says it has not deployed any other troops to the region.

But a Reuters witness saw dozens of Bissau-Guinean civilians leaving their homes on Wednesday and cram into vehicles heading south, away from the border.