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Dakar (AFP) Feb 19, 2010 French military bases in the Senegal capital Dakar will close in terms of an accord between the countries to be signed before April 4, the presidency told AFP Friday. "The French military bases will close in Dakar by virtue of an accord which will be signed before April 4 by the two countries," said a spokesman for President Abdoulaye Wade. France and its former colony Senegal have been bound by a defence agreement since 1974, and 1,200 French soldiers are currently "pre-positioned" in Dakar at one of three permanent French bases in Africa. The spokesman, Mamadou Bamba Ndiaye, would not be drawn on the precise nature of the agreement. However a source close to the case said military co-operation would continue between the two countries, including the presence of military units. The announcement comes just after a visit by French Defence Minister Herve Morin on the renegotiation of defence agreements between the two countries. In August 2009 French President Nicolas Sarkozy promised that the renegotiation of defence agreements in eight African countries would be wrapped up by the end of last year. However only two have been signed, with Togo and Cameroon, and a third is to be signed soon in the Central Africa Republic. A French white paper on defence, published in 2008, announced an eventual "presence on the Atlantic side of the African continent (and) on its eastern side," implying that either the base in Libreville or Dakar would be sacrificed. But in September 2009, Morin said "the idea is that we keep Libreville and Dakar." A member of the minister's entourage specified however that "the presence of French forces in Africa will remain a subject of reflection."
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