Swiss government mediating in Cameroon's separatist crisis
YAOUNDE, Cameroon (AP) — Switzerland's ambassador to Cameroon says his government is trying to negotiate a peaceful end to the separatist crisis in which an estimated 2,000 have died. Ambassador Pietro Lazzeri said the negotiations are being guided by the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. "Over the last months we have been trying to create dialogue among the parties because we have the acceptance of the parties. We are doing it because we have a certain expertise. We are referees, we are not the players. We need the willingness of the parties in order to build the dialogue," Lazzeri said on Cameroon's state media over the weekend. "My country intends to find a peaceful and lasting solution to the crisis that has been claiming so many lives in the restive English-speaking regions of Cameroon. Besides the dialogue, we have been providing humanitarian assistance to the hundreds of thousands of people affected by the separatist war," he said. Two meetings have already taken place in Geneva, said Mark Bareta, a representative of the separatist movement, in a post on Facebook without giving further details. Cameroon's separatist problem worsened on October 1, 2017, when militant secessionist groups proclaimed the independence of an English-speaking state they call Ambazonia. Cameroon President Paul Biya responded in November 2017 by declaring war against the separatists, calling them terrorists. Biya said that he would never negotiate with those who are out to divide the country. Separatists on social media have maintained that they will make the English-speaking regions ungovernable by the central government in the capital, Yaounde, until they win independence. They say they will only negotiate with the government in Yaounde if it withdraws all of its troops, which they call occupational forces, from the...
