President Yahya Jammeh and his Senegalese counterpart, Maître Abdoulaye Wade, have instructed for an Inter-Ministerial Joint Commission Meeting of the two neighbouring countries, this Thursday and Friday at the Kairaba Beach Hotel.

According to a press release, issued yesterday by the Department of State for Foreign Affairs, some 30-member delegation, led by Cheik Tijan Gadio, Minister of Foreign Affairs of Senegal, will arrive in Banjul today, ahead of the Technical Committee meetings on Thursday, which will be followed by the ministerial segment.

Pertinent issues relating to trade, transport, transit, and customs will be discussed. Also, on the agenda are matters on security of each country, including extradition agreements and related Ecowas protocols on granting safe haven to dissidents.
Below is the full text of the press release:

At the instructions of their Excellencies Alhaji Dr Yahya A.J.J Jammeh and Maître Abdoulaye Wade, Presidents of the Republic of The Gambia and the Republic of Senegal respectively an Inter-Ministerial Joint Commission Meeting of the two Sister Countries will take place in The Gambia on the 1st  and 2nd November 2007, at the Kairaba Beach Hotel. The meeting of the Technical Committees will convene on Thursday 1st November 2007, followed the next day, by the Ministerial Segment.

It is expected that this session of the Commission will address critical issues affecting relations between the two countries. In particular, the Commission will look into the need to renew existing agreements Governing Trade, Transport, Transit and Customs.

Participants are also expected to exmine issues touching on the Security of each country, particularly with regard to the respect for the extradition agreements and related Ecowas Protocols having to do with the granting of safe havens to dissidents.

Some thirty participants from Senegal, led by His Excellency Dr. Cheikh Tidiane Gadio, Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of Senegal are expected in Banjul on 31st November.