It seems even in The Gambia, rumors of a Bissau invasion are rife following
the rather irresponsible comments made by President Kumba Yala.

While it may be speculative to pass any judgement on the allegations of The
Gambia's involvement in any coup attempt in Guinea Bissau, President Kumba
Yala's state of mind has been the subject of discussion in Bissau for quite
some time now.

Mr.Yala's apparent paranoia has in the past resulted in the firing en masse
of judges and other state employees and the consistent accusations of coup
plots against him.

According to reports he is suffering form dementia or other forms of
delusions, which presently risks paralysing the Bissau government.

In the late 60s and early 70s the rebel forces of Amilcar Cabral managed to
slip into Gambian territory on a couple of occasions to retrieve goods and
arms from traders who were profiting from the conflict.

Whatever the truth may be, the APRC government would need to respond to the
accusations in order to ally the fears of the general public.  The APRC
government would not want to be in the bad books of both Senegal and Guinea
Bissau; that would be putting it between a rock and hard place.

Hamadi.




>From: Yankuba Njie <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Guinea-Bissau threatens to invade Gambia
>Date: Wed, 12 Jun 2002 16:36:19 -0500
>
>Guinea-Bissau threatens to invade Gambia following alleged coup attempt
>Wed Jun 12,12:17 PM ET (Associated Press)
>
>LISBON, Portugal - Opposition leaders in Guinea-Bissau charged Wednesday
>that President Kumba Yala was mentally unstable after he threatened to
>invade Gambia because the west African country allegedly supported a
>military coup against him, reports said.
>
>
>Yala had accused Gambian President Yahya Jammeh on Tuesday of plotting the
>coup, claiming Guinea-Bissau's security forces foiled the attempt last
>month, the Portuguese national news agency Lusa reported.
>
>Helder Vaz Lopes, leader of Guinea-Bissau Resistance party, called Yala's
>threat to "crush" Gambia an "obsession" because it was "the second time in
>24 hours he has threatened to invade Gambia," Lusa reported.
>
>"Only the president's state of mental health could explain his attitude,"
>Lusa quoted her as saying.
>
>Francisco Benante, head of the African Party for the Independence of
>Guinea-
>Bissau and Cape Verde, also condemned the threat as "not the attitude of a
>statesman," Lusa reported.
>
>Guinea-Bissau does not have a common border with Gambia. Any invasion would
>require troops to traverse 100 kilometers (60 miles) of neighboring
>Senegal.
>
>Officials of the governments of Gambia and Guinea-Bissau were not available
>for comment.
>
>The events have further undermined stability in the impoverished former
>Portuguese colony of about 1.1 million people, which is struggling to
>recover from a devastating 1998 rebellion.
>
>Opposition politicians and international human rights groups have denounced
>the government for alleged heavy-handed treatment of opponents, including
>arrests of senior judges and journalists
>
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