Yahya is up to his old lies and tricks again.  Enjoy!


  <A
HREF="http://allafrica.com/publishers.html?passed_name=Panafrican%20News%20Age
ncy&passed_location=empty">Panafrican   News Agency</A>
  September 8, 2000
  UN, New York
  President Yahya Jammeh of the Gambia Friday rejected claims   by the main
opposition United Democratic Party of harassment, saying the   opposition was
using its political platform to flout the laws of the land and   foment
trouble.
  There were clashes between the UPD led by Ousainou Darboe   and the ruling
Alliance of Patriotic Reorientation in July, which led to the   detention of
some politicians including Darboe.
  Other cases involving the party are still pending in   court.
  Unidentified persons tried to torch a private radio station   in Banjul in
August, but the miscreants were overpowered and the station saved   by it
owner agents.
  Critics in Banjul allege that agents of the ruling party   might have
masterminded both incidents to intimidate the opposition.
  But Jammeh denied the allegations, pointing out that people   close to him
would not try to destroy a radio station from where he announced   the ouster
of former President Dawda Jawara in July 1994.
  The station was duly licensed and if it had flouted the law,   the
government would have applied the legal provisions, he said, pointing out   th
at it was unkind for anyone to try to link the government with the arson   att
empt.
  Jammeh, who is attending the UN Millennium Summit in New   York, told
reporters that the UDP, one of the four political parties in the   country,
had been involved in acts of intimidation against innocent citizens   that
have sometimes led to injury and deaths.
  He accused the party of encouraging ethnic and religious   hate which often
led to clashes forcing security agencies to step in.
  "We will not allow our country to go to the dogs in the name   of
democracy," Jammeh said, asking, "where on earth will any government allow   t
he opposition to maim and kill because they are in the opposition."
  On the stalled mediation role his government has been   playing between the
government of Senegal and rebels of the Movement of   Democratic Forces of
Casamance, Jammeh expressed preparedness to continue the   search for lasting
peace in the neighbouring countries.
  He said previous efforts had helped defuse the tense   situation in the
southern part of Senegal and neighbouring Guinea-Bissau, which   made it
possible for elections to be held in the area in February and March.
  This stopped when power changed hands in Dakar and Jammeh   says he is
waiting for President Abdoulaye Wade to give him the go-ahead to   continue
the mediations.
  The rebel war in Casamance since 1982 had led to differences   between
Dakar and Banjul on one hand, and Dakar and Bissau on the other hand,   over
suspicions that the two countries were supporting the rebels.
  Senegal intervened when the regime of President Joao   Bernardo Vieira was
overthrown by the military two years ago further heightening   tension in the
area.
  Jammeh said Gambia was now hosting about 450,000 refugees   ofall
categories because of the troubles, warning that delays in resuming the   peac
e talks could further worsen the situation.

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