Hello Tim,
You have made some very good observations already on this piece, which does seem to have certain Saharan characteristics, primarily in the geometric blade motif. This is one of those items that I feel certain to have seen somewhere, but cannot recall or find the notes. I agree that there is potentially some good potential for this thread as a number of members have travelled in the Sahara, including especially our own 'Indiana Jones'..Lee !!
who has had some terrific adventures there.
This does seem to be post WWII, and I think your note on the possibility of military influence possibly influencing the spring-catch is well placed. I am not that familiar with military bayonets or combat knives, but clearly many types from major powers were well known throughout the Sahara.
In referencing similarities for hilt and mounts, these 'rondel' type hilts with dual discs seem to occur in knives and some swords in Sierra Leone and possibly other contiguous West African regions (see Spring, p.47). The swords with these type hilts seem to be mounted with kaskara type blades, suggesting these may occur much farther east, possibly Nigeria or other far western Sudan regions where trade routes carried these blades.
The incised markings in the blade seem similar to geometric motif found on edged weapons that were described by Ian in posts several years ago which were possibly from Mossi tribes. Ian noted (11-24-02) that elements of these tribes are found in Burkina Faso (Upper Volta) as well as Ghana and Cote d'Ivoire. It seems like the opposed semi-circles near the forte on the blade may be interpretations of the venerable Genoan 'sickle marks' often found on trade blades from previous centuries.
I found another interesting comparison for the distinct bulbous tip for the scabbard in Spring (op.cit.p.135) in Shona short sword scabbards, although geographically any direct influence does not seem plausible. Just a note for comparison. In the 'koumyya' of Morocco this feature occurs, as on a number of other scabbards, with influence likely from the bulb found on Arab janbiyya scabbard tips and termed 'thum' .
Mike's note on the flyssa is well noted as the geometric motif that is so distinctly prevalent throughout the Sahara and in Berber material culture seems to associate with variations that occur as well in many locations.
Best regards,
Jim