Mr. Njie,
         You need to do more research work on this
issue. Your information is seriously wrong.
                      Thanks
                              Tapha



--- Amadu Kabir Njie <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> Dr. Saine,
>
> Thank you for the clarification; I did not know that
> the question of Libyan
> involvement in the events of July 1981 had been
> addressed by the old man
> during your discussions.
>
> I have had occasion to discuss Libyan involvement
> with Kukoi's right hand
> man, now in The Gambia, whiles in Tripoli and have
> spoken to different
> players and actors in the events of July '81 and
> arrived at the conclusion
> that Kukoi indeed received no training, logistical
> or financial support from
> Libya. It is however interesting to learn that
> Jawara has said that "Gaddafi
> jokingly admitted to having engineered the foiled
> coup".
>
> I am in no way trying to deny the well known fact
> that Gaddafi was behind
> many attempts to overthrow many African regimes that
> he deemed "reactionary"
> through sponsoring local dissidents. But the rule
> was that most of these
> dissidents were trained in Libya soil itself. It is
> difficult for me to
> recall any African country that would have, prior to
> July 1981, allowed it's
> soil to be used for such purposes, especially in our
> sub-region.
>
> As you may be aware, Kukoi's brief case was found
> after he fled The Gambia
> and even though there was evidence in it liking Pap
> Che Yassin Secka to the
> plot, nothing was found in it or revealed during his
> trial, or even during
> the interogation of those captured after the events,
> that pointed toward
> Libyan involvement. It must be remembered that this
> was a time of intesnse
> cold war intrigues and that it was fashionable to
> cry "wolf Gaddafi" by
> pro-western regimes whenever there was an attempt to
> overthrow them.
>
> Chester Crocker is a man whose testimony I would
> rather take with a pinch of
> salt. He is a known Right Wing hawk and I remember
> him most for being behind
> Regan's destructive strategy of "Constructive
> engagement" in Southern
> Africa, whose sole aim was to nuetralise any
> non-pro-western forces in the
> sub-region. He was practically obsessed by the Cuban
> presence in Angola and
> the CIA was at work in the whole of the continent,
> doing their utmost to
> sabotage all progressive African movements,
> including the ANC and SWAPO. He
> also master minded support for both Mobutu and Janas
> Savimbi who were both
> close allies of the earstwhile Apartheid regime.
>
> By and large, my interest in this topic: "Libyan
> involvement in the events
> of July '81" has more to do with the correct
> catalouging of historical
> events than with anything else. Indeed the only
> times I have staunchly
> supported Gaddafi's involvement in the internal
> affairs of other Africcan
> countries was during the Liberation struggles in
> South Africa and Namibia.
> Struggles which the Regan-Thacher duo did everything
> in their power to
> counter in the interest of wester imperialsm.
>
> But I guess this is one chapter that is still open
> and I hope that one day
> all the facts about July '81 will be known. Your
> efforts in that direction
> are of course well appreciated.
>
> Regards,
>
> Kabir.
>
>
>
> "Abdoulaye Saine" <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
>
> > Kabir Njie:
> >
> > Thank you for your insightful comments and kind
> words. The issues you
> > raised about Kukoi Samba Sanyang, Libya, myth
> creation and the 1981
> > aborted coup are very important indeed. These
> issues however, highlight,
> > a more important concern, that of insufficient
> research and data on this
> > important crisis. Except for Arnold Hughes', John
> Wiseman's and Sulayman
> > Nyang's published accounts and a chapter of my
> dissertation on this
> > episode, there is little data and information on
> the issue. A
> > pro-Government account, according to Hughes, by
> Swaebou Conateh(1982)and
> > a fictionalized account of life during the crisis
> by Nana Humasi (1987),
> > also exist on the 1981 putsch.  I did not see
> these and could not
> > comment on them. (Perhaps Mr. Conateh and others
> could comment on the
> > events of 1981).
> >
> > The lack of adequate data, however, does not
> necessarily suggest the
> > lack of Libyan involvement, but simply that data
> on covert intervention
> > by foreign leaders are hard to come by and
> difficult to substantiate
> > empirically.  Consequently, much of the data are
> anecdotal.  It would be
> > incorrect, therefore, to conclude as you did that
> "there is no evidence
> > to support Libyan sponsorship of July 1981."  The
> data may not be as
> > strong and compelling as most of us would wish,
> but there are data to
> > suggest Libyan involvement in the sub-region and
> The Gambia,
> > specifically.  Did some members of the former
> AFPRC kill Ousman "Korro"
> > Ceesay?  Did Yahya Jammeh give the order for the
> April 10 and 11
> > slaughter of innocent students?  You get the
> drift.
> >
> > In the 1980's in particular, Gaddafi engaged in
> what Chester Crocker, a
> > former Assistant Secretary of State for Africa,
> termed "Gaddafi's
> > Diplomacy of Subversion in Africa." Presidents
> Kountche of Niger,
> > Traore(Tarawalley)of Mali and Nimeiri of Sudan
> charged the Libyans with
> > attempts to overthrow their governments.  The
> Senegal and Gambia
> > governments also charged the Libyans with
> imprisoning their nationals
> > and putting them into military training against
> their wills to
> > destabilize their regimes.  Libya was also
> involved in Uganda in support
> > of Amin and Dr. Limman of Ghana also accused the
> Libyan leader of
> > subversion and expelled its diplomats. Without
> doubt, Libya's
> > intervention in Chad was the most dramatic.
> >
> > Consequently, in 1980 Senegal, Equatorial Guinea
> and The Gambia broke
> > diplomatic relations with Libya.  Mauritania,
> Mali, Niger, Nigeria and
> > Ghana expelled Libyan diplomats for subversion and
> in particular,
> > Libya's change of its embassies to Peoples'
> Bureaus.  Kenya  and the
> > former Upper Volta refused the establishment of
> these bureaus and Sudan
> > was convinced that Libya was responsible for a
> number of unsuccessful
> > coup attempts.
> >
> > It is against this backdrop of Libyan subversion
> in the sub-region and
> > perceived subversive activity in The Gambia, that
> led to the break of
> > diplomatic relations with Libya.  Thus, I am not
> convinced that the
> > "myth of Libyan involvement" is a myth in the
> first place,  nor was
> > it "concocted" by Sir Dawda.  He felt strongly
> about it and said in my
> > interview with him that Gaddafi jokingly admitted
> to having engineered
> > the foiled coup.
> >
> > I have no data to suggest that Kukoi set foot in
> Libya prior to 1981.
> > What many are convinced of is that Kukoi was one
> of many Gambians
> > trained by the Libyan leader in Libya or in
> neighboring African
> > countries where Gaddafi-sponsored dissidents
> undertook
=== message truncated ===


__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Yahoo! Shopping - Thousands of Stores. Millions of Products.
http://shopping.yahoo.com/

----------------------------------------------------------------------------

To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L
Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html
You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask]
if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address.
----------------------------------------------------------------------------