ZIGUINCHOR, 25 June 2008 (IRIN) - Civilians are growing increasingly desperate to return to their villages in Casamance, but with violent incidents continuing and the peace process "still at a stalemate" according to peace negotiators, some see little reason for hope.

"The peace process has not progressed in a long time - indeed I'd say now it's going backwards rather than forwards," said Landing Diedhiou, president of local non-governmental organisation APRAN-SDP which has long served as an intermediary between the Senegalese government and rebels with the Movement of Democratic Forces of Casamance (MFDC).

The southern region of Casamance has been in a low-level conflict situation for 25 years, making it Africa's longest-running civilian war and leaving upwards of 60,000 people displaced, with up to 10,000 of these refugees in The Gambia and Guinea-Bissau.

Rebels with the MFDC initially were fighting for an independent Casamance, though their demands have since shifted. A government-MFDC peace accord has not held, and while violence abated towards the end of 2007 there was a rise in violent attacks, lootings, killings and injuries from landmines in 2008. 

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