Possible Extradition Awaits Baba Jobe 'If S/Leone War Crimes Tribunal Makes
Request'

The Independent (Banjul)
NEWS
January 5, 2004
Posted to the web January 5, 2004
Banjul

Baba Jobe may be surrendered by The Gambia government to the War Crimes
Tribunal in Sierra Leone to face possible charges of complicity in
prosecuting the atrocious conflict in that country provided the latter makes
a request to that effect, highly placed sources intimated to The
Independent.

In a fresh and winding twist to the embattled politician's string of recent
troubles, an international dimension to the saga has surfaced as a senior
government official, indicated last week that a request by the war crimes
tribunal to have Honourable Jobe extradited to answer to possible charges of
gun-running and diamond smuggling would not be turned down by the APRC
government to which he is still reportedly a sworn loyalist. "The regime is
in a position to honour any indictment request in respect of Baba Jobe from
the war crimes tribunal" our source further maintained, although no official
declaration by the government has been made to that effect. The Attorney
General and the Department of Foreign Affairs could not be accessed to shed
more light on this development, which if true could mark a complete turning
point in the Gambia government's policy towards Honourable Jobe travel ban
since 2001.

With his possible extradition Honourable Jobe would face trial in Sierra
Leone alongside Charles Taylor and his co-conspirators who are the focus of
an indictment by the Special Tribunal.

According to a United Nations panel of experts report on the activities of
the Liberian government under Charles Taylor, the proceeds from an illegal
gun and diamonds trade were used to sponsor the now defunct Revolutionary
United Front (RUF) and in some instances directly helped in prosecuting the
war against the Sierra Leone government. Honourable Jobe is still under a UN
travel ban sanctioned on him under Resolution 1343 (2001) for his alleged
activities, along with other individuals among them Ibrahim Ba an RUF
commander whose nationality cannot be verified. A list of the names of those
affected by the travel ban included Baba Jobe who was described as an arms
trafficker and director the Gambia Millennium Airline. Also included in the
list was one Musa Ceesay, the chief of Presidential Protocol in Taylor's
government. Baba Jobe was still in the revised UN list (which we will
publish in our next edition) following incessant complaints on behalf of
individuals affected by the ban.

Speaking under conditions of anonymity, the official said, although the
government was not officially aware of the intention of the War Crimes
Tribunal of Sierra Leone as far as Baba Jobe was concerned the government
"was in a position to readily oblige".

The Sierra Leone War Crimes Tribunal is a special court established by
agreement between the United Nations and the government of Sierra Leone on
the authority of Security Council Resolution No 2000 of August 14 2000. Its
mandate is to prosecute those persons who bear the greatest responsibility
for the commission of crimes against humanity, war crimes and other serious
violations of international humanitarian law. It also covers crimes under
Sierra Leonean law committed since November 30, 1996 in Sierra Leone.

Baba Jobe's ban swiftly followed allegations that some Gambians were
involved in the "unholy" trade in "blood diamonds" from Sierra Leone.

Proceeds from this trade were used to buy weapons to prosecute wars in the
West African sub-region particularly in Sierra Leone.

The then Gambian Foreign Minister Dr. ML. Sedat Job acting on instructions
from the government had denied any Gambian involvement, accusing the United
Nations Security Council of committing an error, which he described as
prejudicial to Baba Jobe and The Gambia. He referred to the decision to
include Baba Jobe in the travel ban list as the result of a request from the
French, British and United States governments to that effect. Several months
later, Blaise Jagne, the then Gambian representative to the UN accused the
world body of pursuing a hidden agenda against his country.

If suggestions about the government's reported readiness to hand over
Honourable Jobe were true, it would represent a major albeit confusing shift
of position by the APRC government which until November 22, 2003 was
involved in a secret round of talks with representatives of the UN in a bid
to have the ban unconditionally overturned. According to international
diplomatic sources, the last round of talks between Gambian representatives
of the embattled politicians and UN diplomats ended without the desired
result. UN diplomats at the talks were quoted as putting bluntly to the
Gambian delegation that "this was not a sanction against the Gambia
government but against a lone individual" who was entitled to send his own
legal representation to make the case for him instead of relying on the
government to do so. Thus the Gambian delegation reportedly left without
pulling off any positive result from their mission.




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