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Subject:
From:
"Katim S. Touray" <[log in to unmask]>
Reply To:
Date:
Sun, 5 Dec 1999 17:10:01 -0600
Content-Type:
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Hi folks,

I'm writing to discuss some issues relating to Gambia-L subscription in
general, and specifically to respond to recent postings on the list about
Matarr Njie.

First, given the recent increase in our numbers, I would like to give an
overview of Gambia-L, and it's history.  Gambia-L was formally created in
January, 1996, and hosted under by the Univ. of Washington (UW), Seattle, under
the auspices of Anthony Loum, who was then employed by that University.  The
creation of Gambia-L at UW followed a period beginning around August 1994,
during which I used one of my e-mail accounts for people to exchange
information about developments in The Gambia, and issues of interest.

As the person responsible for starting the list that preceed Gambia-L, I was
made one of the "Owners" (the term is historical, and is of no literal
significance) of Gambia-L, along with Anthony Loum.  We also had a number of
"Managers" who helped in the administration of the list.  Among these were Dr.
Amadou Janneh, Sarian Loum, Abdou Touray, Malanding Jaiteh, and Latjor Ndow.
Please pardon me if I forgot to mention your name, and you were a manager
earlier on.

Shortly after the creation of Gambia-L at UW, we had our first major problem.
One subscriber insulted Tombong Saidy (who was then at the Gambian Embassy in
Washingon, DC) after Mr. Saidy was mentioned in another subscriber's posting on
the list.  I objected the insult, simply because it was not only indecent, but
also because Mr. Saidy was then not subscribed to the list, and therefore could
not speak up in defense of himself.  After much discussion, I suggested that we
institute some rules to deal with such instances.  The sentiment on the list
then was that such measures were uncalled for, and for this reason, I
unsubscribed from Gambia-L.  I should also add that during the debate, I was
subjected to a number of personal attacks on Gambia-L, and some of those
attacks were not too different from what I've recently been subjected to now.
Except that back then, the attacks were coming from the anti-President Jammeh
camp.

It was in August 1997 that I returned to Gambia-L, and in my first posting
after my return to the list, I pointed out that it had grown about five-fold
from 50 in early 1996 to 258 in August, 1997 during my absence. I was
reinstated as one of the managers of the list to help with running it, and
ensuring it's smooth operation.

And things ran really smoonth, I can say, until we ran into the problem of
personal attacks and the exchange of insults on the list.  Matarr Njie, in
particular, was found so offensive that one of the list Managers unsubscribed
him.  The following is an excerpt from my posting informing Gambia-L that I had
reinstated Mr. Njie to the list.

> From: Katim S. Touray <[log in to unmask]>
> To: Gambia-L <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Matarr Njie's subscription to Gambia-L and other stuff
> Date: Monday, February 01, 1999 8:13 PM
>
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm writing to inform you that I've re-subscribed Matarr Njie to Gambia-L.
> I noticed that Baboucarr Sillah mentioned that he was "kicked out" and I
> wondered how come ...
>
> Before I go into the details of why I re-subscribed Matarr, I'd like to say
> that I found a lot of his postings offensive, and sickening.  Indeed, I
> once wrote him in private asking if he could restrain himself and not use
> language like he'd been using.  There have been a number of times when I
> really wished I could just blow away his subscription to Gambia-L.  Even
> though doing that is technically very easy, I have not done it, and infact
> end up re-subscribing him because of the fact that I think we need a list
> that's run on a solid foundation of respect of justice and fair play.
>
> Given that we do not presently have any guidelines or ratified rules and
> regulations that govern behavior on Gambia-L, I think it is unfair to
> single out one person, and in hasty manner at that, and throw them out.
> We've spent a good part of the past few days talking about the summary
> re-shuffling of the Gambian cabinet, and I don't think we should be
> practicing what a lot of us has been critical of.
>
> Matarr Njie, despite all his failings as a list member, should be accorded
> the same fairness and justice that every one on this list deserves and
> should get.  Until when we have completed drafting the rules of behavior on
> the list, and have had them ratified by the generality of subscribers, we
> have no basis for throwing people out.  In these circumstances, we have to
> rely on our sense of decency (and yes, we loose it sometimes!), and peer,
> and "Mboka" pressure to keep people in check.
>
> Along the above lines, I would like to once again appeal to us all to
> please stop posting personal attacks on the list.  I don't really care to
> know what you think of Hamat, or Fatou, or Malang!!  Please send all
> PERSONAL stuff to people they are meant for.
>

Shortly after I sent the above posting, (a week later to be exact) I sent
another one, informing subscribers about an iniative to draft a set of rules
for Gambia-L. Here goes:

----------
> From: Katim S. Touray <[log in to unmask]>
> To: Gambia-L <[log in to unmask]>
> Subject: Hang in there
> Date: Monday, February 08, 1999 2:11 AM
>
> Hi folks,
>
> This is a second attempt at sending an e-mail about a number of issues I've
> been wanting to touch on for a while now.  My first attempt was aborted
> because my computer crashed after I'd spent over 15 to 20 minutes composing
> my e-mail.  You can imagine my disgust!
>
> Anyway, I'd like to begin by saying a big "THANK YOU" to Abdou Touray, who
> a few weeks ago resigned from his position as one of the Gambia-L managers.
>  Abdou worked tirelessly to ensure the smooth running of Gambia-L by
> dealing with nuts-and-bolts issues like error messages.  We were lucky to
> have someone as able and willing as Abdou helping run Gambia-L.
> Unfortunately, his workload no longer permits him to give his best to
> running Gambia-L, and so we've suffered a big loss.  I wish him all the
> best in his endeavors.
>
> I've also wanted to say another big "THANK YOU" to Latjor Ndow, Malanding
> Jaiteh, Jabou Joh, and the whole GESO team for the great job of sending
> tens of thousands of books to The Gambia.  A special thanks should also go
> to Ebrima Sall who, to the best of my knowledge, was the person that
> initiated the project to send books to The Gambia.  The whole project is
> indicative of the incredible good that can be done when great minds come
> together.
>
> I would also like to confess that GESO and the book project is something
> I've had NOTHING to do with!  It might sound bizarre that I'm making a big
> deal of not being involved in something that I just heaped tons of praise
> on in the last paragraph.  However, it is not, because of the simple reason
> that my failure to be involved was motivated by a desire to prove to
> myself, if not everyone else, that I am indeed not indispensable.
>
> I have been alarmed by the number of people expressing their thanks to me
> for helping setup Gambia-L, and for this reason, felt it important to avoid
> all that getting to my head.  I thought to myself that GESO was a good
> project to stay away from, and help me put things in perspective.  As we
> all know, we are often too willing and eager to be heaped with praises
> because it's good for the ego. However we should recall that it is
> precisely because former President Jawara was lead to believe that he was
> indispensable to the country that he's now living in exile.  We need to be
> a little less self-assured, and feel less important!
>
> I would like to end by paraphrasing a well-known proverb, or more like
> turning it on it's head.  Every silver lining has a cloud!  Recent postings
> on Gambia-L have been a real stain on civility.  I'm not going to bother
> blaming this or that person, but would remind all of us that it's a small
> world, and you might just regret it later if you let your emotions carry
> the day now.  And we all should remember that you never know what you are
> going to be denied in the future because of the of the negative impression
> you create in the minds of people who have nothing to judge you by, except
> your postings.
>
> Having said that, I'd like to implore the rest of you to hang in there, and
> give us a few more days to complete working on the draft rules for
> Gambia-L. It is my opinion that the few extra days we'll wait to work on
> the rules will pay off by providing us an opportunity to give you the best
> set of rules possible.  We will be presenting you with a draft set of rules
> within the week, and hopefully be in a position to vote on them by next
> week.  In the mean time, I would like to apologize to all of you for being
> subjected to all the insults and foul language that's been sent to the
> list.
>
> I guess that's about all for now.  Have a great week, and best wishes.
>
> Katim
>

After going through a number of drafts, getting a number of suggestions, and
doing a number of revisions, we put the Gambia-L Rules to a vote.  I asked
Matarr Njie if he would volunteer to count and tally the votes for us, and he
agreed.  After the votes were counted, and tallied, Mr. Njie sent me his
report, which I summarized for Gambia-L.  Here's an excerpt from my posting on
the issue:

----------
> From: Katim S. Touray <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Gambia-L Rules Vote Results
> Date: Thursday, April 01, 1999 9:50 AM
>
>
> Hi folks,
>
> I'm writing to say a thing or two about the results of the recent vote on
> Gambia-L rules.
>
> First, I would like to express my gratitude to Matarr Njie for taking the
time
> to collect and report on the votes.  I'm sure I also speaking for the rest of
> us when I express appreciation of his service in helping the process on.
> Besides the complaint from Abdoulie Jallow about his missing vote (I'll come
to
> that later), and the fact that his report does not show totalled numbers, I
> think Mr. Njie served us well.
>
> A number of people, especially Mr. Njie himself, have expressed concern and
> even disdain for the results of the voting.  From the results of the voting,
as
> reported by Mr. Njie, are as follows:
>
>       Yes     - 22
>       No      -  2
>       Abstain  - 1
>       ===============
>       Total     25
>       ===============
>
> Given that Gambia-L presently has about 700 subscribers, it is pitiful that
> only 25 people bothered to vote on proposed rules for running the list.  Be
> that as it may, I don't think it should be grounds for despair or calling
into
> question the motivation of management of the list.  The 25 people who voted
are
> those who thought it worth their while to have their opinions heard.  For
this
> reason, they are the people whose opinions should and MUST matter.  The other
> 675 and some other subscribers to the list have just forfeited their rights
to
> be heard, and so must go with the consensus of the majority of those who
> bothered to vote.
>
> I will be writing to the list managers to formally adopt the results of the
> vote-taking, and seek a date from them when the rules will come into effect.
> Speaking of the rules coming into effect, I would like to remind us all, as
> Malanding Jaiteh has pointed out in a previous posting, Gambia-L is a
voluntary
> service, and so neither the University of Washington, nor any of us
volunteers
> has any obligation to subscriber.  We are not doing what we do because of a
> need to satisfy this or that person.  Rather, we do what we do to the best of
> our abilities because it is, in our judgements, what's best that should be
> done.  If anyone has any problems with that, he or she can go somewhere else.
>
> For your information, Gambia-L is, of all the lists I am subscribed to, and
in
> the about 8 years I have been on the Internet and on mailing lists, the ONLY
> list I know of that has bothered to institute a democratic process for
handling
> list management issues.  Please let us know if you know of ANY other list out
> there that does it our way.
>
> About Mr. Jallow's vote, I suggest that we give Mr. Njie the benefit of the
> doubt.  A lot can go wrong when you send an e-mail.  It is a little known
fact
> that it is indeed a miracle that e-mail gets delivered at all.  Given that
> every e-mail you send is broken up, and different fragments sent using
possibly
> different routes, and re-assembled when they reach their destination, it is
> obvious that errors can and do happen.  For this reason, I would urge Mr.
> Jallow to send in his vote to the list, to be officially included in the
tally
> of votes.  And please let's leave it at that.
>
> I also found it uncalled-for when a subscriber (I can't recall exactly who it
> was) asked Matarr Njie why he voted "No."  I don't think Mr. Njie, or anybody
> else for that matter, has to explain to anyone why they voted the way they
did.
>  Especially on a public forum.  I think it's alright if the mail was sent in
> private, but it certainly is not done, in my mind, to want anyone to justify
> their votes.
>
> And I guess that's about all.  Thanks a lot to all of you who voted on the
> rules, to Matarr Njie for collecting them, and to all volunteers that worked
on
> drafting the rules: Ndey Jobarteh, Baboucarr Sillah, Lajor Ndow, Dr. Amadou
> Janneh, Dr. Malanding Jaiteh, Tony Loum, Sarian Loum, and Momodou Camara.
> Obviously, my list is not in any particular order, but I think I'll be
> forgiven!  Have a great weekend, and best wishes.
>
> Katim
>

Shortly after the votes were reported on Gambia-L, Mr. Njie escalated his
attacks on the management of Gambia-L in general, and in particular, myself.
In the end, he resorted to his now familiar practice of setting up a free
e-mail account under a false name, subscribe to Gambia-L, and begin to haul
insults to people under his new name.  The classic example of such a practice
is Burama Manjang, who, it turned out was most likely Mr. Njie based on the
fact that the IP number (the unique identifying number for computers connected
to the Internet) of postings from Matarr Njie and Burama Manjang were all the
same.  When I pointed this out to the list, Mr. Njie escalated his attacks on
me, and in the end, I personally unsubscribed him from the list, just as I
personally re-subscribed him to the list earlier on.

But our problems with Mr. Njie were not going to end there.  As I mentioned
earlier, Gambia-L was hosted by UW under the sponsorship of Anthony Loum.  The
dissatisfaction of Mr. Njie and others, who perceived Gambia-L as
anti-President Jammeh prompted them to start threatening us with a campaign to
make sure that UW stopped hosting Gambia-L.  It became so bad that I was asked
in private by Mr. Loum if I would help find another host for Gambia-L.
Luckily, I had helped establish, and was managing the African Association of
Madison list which was hosted at St. John's Univ. in New York, NY.  I contacted
them to explain our needs, and they agreed to host Gambia-L.

We finally moved to the St. John's server in May of this year, without any
major problems.  So far, we've had no serious and/or chronic problems there,
and from all indications, Gambia-L continues to prove a great resource to
people all over the world.  However, we've had to deal with the recurring issue
of whether or not Gambia-L is an anti-President Jammeh foroum.  It was
precisely this problem, and other issues that were raised on the list that
prompted me to write an Open letter to His Excellency President Yahya A. J. J.
Jammeh, asking him to help make Gambia-L, and the Internet be more beneficial
to The Gambia.

My Open letter to the President was posted on the list on Nov. 18, after I
faxed it to the State House, and copied it to a number of Gambian papers.  The
Independent newspaper infact published it, and made it available on their
Website.  I should also mention that my Open letter came after Dr. Abdoulaye
Saine's call for self-healing and reconciliation, not only on the list, but at
a national level. It is for this reason that it has been a pleasure to hear
different perspectives and opinions on the issues raised in both my Open
letter, and Dr. Saine's posting.

One of the responses to my Open letter came from one Dawda Jobe, who claimed:

----------
> From: Dawda Jobe <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Response to Katim Touray
> Date: Wednesday, December 01, 1999 4:36 AM
>
> Gambia-Lers:
>
> In the name of freedom of expression and democracy, I forward this letter
> from Mr Matarr Njie FYI only. Please do not curse me, I am just a messenger
> forwarding something, that some of the managers may not want hear or read.If
> this is so, my APPOLOGIES
>
> Dawda.

I thought the above was a genuine, and from a bonafide subscriber to Gambia-L.
Accordingly, I responded to it (check out the Gambia-L archives), and left it
at that.  I was later informed by people who looked more closely at the email
from Dawda Jobe that, again, the IP number of the e-mail came from the same one
as used by Matarr Njie.  Again, it seemed that Matarr had resorted to his by
now familiar tactic of assuming different names to get his point across.

The offshoot of the above letter from Dawda Jobe has been a call from some
Gambia-L subscribers to reinstate Mr. Njie to Gambia-L, especially in light of
the current calls for reconciliation.  The debate on the issue of Mr. Njie's
subscription to Gambia-L has been going on for a while, and I thought it
important to let as many people as is possible air their feelings on the issue,
before I send in my opinion.  If anything, those who have taken the time,
trouble, and yes, the risk to send in their opinions on the issue deserve a
considered response from me.  Furthermore, the added benefit of waiting is that
many postings have said a lot of what I had in mind, and so all that remains is
for me to put my opinion on the record, and agree or disagree with various
postings on the matter.

Let me cofirm that Matarr Njie has continued to send personal insults to me,
and to almost anybody who dares criticize the Jammeh government on Gambia-L.  I
suspect that because I was the one who removed him from Gambia-L, I have a
target of his vicious and hateful campaign of insults hurled at me and my
parents.  Furthermore, he also makes sure that he sends me copies insults he
sends to other people, and frequently, all these insulting e-mail messages,
always has a paragraph or sentence directed toward me and/or my parents.  In
the last 24 hours alone, I have received 3 (three) copies of e-mail messages he
sent to O. B. Silla, and Dr. Saine.  These bring the total e-mail messages I
have received about and from Matarr Njie to 109 (one hundred and nine) since
May.

Besides the insults, Mr. Njie has also worked on getting St. John's Univ. to
stop hosting Gambia-L.  The following are copies of just some of the e-mail I
received from him on his efforts:

----------
> From: matarr njai <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: New gambia-l home!!!
> Date: Thursday, May 20, 1999 1:50 AM
>
>
> Katim Touray,
>
> Moving the host to another site is not a solution ! I will be warning St.
> John's University about the purpose and danger of this discussion group, and
> more importantly, the subversive nature of their actions. They will also be
> warned about the  possibility of them facing legal action for hosting such
> an anti-government propaganda tool. This is more serious, because since they
> are a catholic univesity and subscribe to the ideals of Jesus Christ, they
> should be aware of the religious consequences of their actions. So don't
> worry, the game ain't over yet!
>
> Matarr.
>
>

----------
> From: matarr njai <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Cc: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: New Host
> Date: Thursday, May 20, 1999 10:35 PM
>
> Katim Touray,
>
> Following my promise to you to inform St John' University of the subversive
> nature of your discussion group, I have been able to initially detect some
> element of lying on your part. I am still investigating however, with the
> help of a friend in the US.
> My initial finding is that you are still using the University of Washington
> resources, that REBEKAH is fake, etc. I will keep you posted with regards to
> any progress that I make on this matter. As I promised, neither the
> University of Washington nor St John's University should allow their
> facilities to be used for subversive and anti-government activities, and
> this I have made clear to the relevant authorities in both institutions.
> Again, I will keep you posted.
>
> Matarr
>

----------
> From: matar njai <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Cc: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Feedback-Webmaster (technical issues)-
> Date: Wednesday, June 02, 1999 12:57 AM
>
> Katim,
>
> The following note is for you to know that I am working very hard on my
research.
> Matarr.
>
> >From: "Ana Lopes" <[log in to unmask]>
> >To: "matarr njie" <[log in to unmask]>
> >Subject: Re: Feedback<Webmaster (technical issues)>
> >Date: Tue, 1 Jun 1999 08:59:25 -0400
> >
> >Barnes & Noble College manages the bookstore at St. John's University.  If
you
> >have any questions regarding practices of the university or on university
> >grounds, you will have to direct your inquiry to the university directly.
> >
> >Thanks for your inquiry.
> >

The above are just 3 (three) e-mail messages that indicate the extent to which
Matarr will go to have Gambia-L destroyed.  What he fails to realize, however,
is that he has no means to realizing his objective, and for this reason, all
his efforts will result in failure.  Even then, I wonder why after spending
such effort, and going to such lengths, would he still be interested in
benefiting from Gambia-L by using it to share his ideas and opinions with other
people.  For me, that he has consistently tried to destroy Gambia-L should be
grounds for his exclusion from the list, until at such a time that he repents,
and promises not to engage in such activity in the future.

I should also say that I take offense at the suggestion from Yahya Drame:

----------
> From: yeks drame <[log in to unmask]>
> To: [log in to unmask]
> Subject: Re: Lift the ban on Matarr!
> Date: Friday, December 03, 1999 5:17 AM
>
> level of missunderstanding among us. We know that "no man is an
> Island",Mattar needs us as we needs him, he cannot stand alone,  and he had
> demonstrated a level of interest to be part of the discussion which was
> revealed by his recent posting.He is therefore most deffinately with the aim
>
> Peace!!
> Yahya.
>

What I find particularly offensive in the posting above is the claim that "...
Matarr needs us as we needs (sic) him ..."  The fact of the matter is that we
do not NEED Mr. Njie, or me, or Mr. Drame, or anyone else for that matter.
It's precisely for this kind of flawed reasoning that people told former
President Jawara, and he believed, that The Gambia NEEDED him.  History, of
course, proved all of them wrong.  Infact, I find the above claim so insulting
to our collective intelligence that would like to ask Mr. Drame to apologize to
us.

As I indicated earlier, Matarr Njies insults have continued to rain on me since
last May.  The question that's being asked now is, should Mr. Njie be allowed
to resubscribe to Gambia-L?  After reading the numerous postings on the matter,
here's what I think.

1.  While it sounds reasonable to press a case for Mr. Njie's reinstatement
along the lines of present calls for reconciliation, the issues should not be
confused.  What's going on between Mr. Njie and me, and other unfortunate
members of Gambia-L is a strictly personal issue, and has no bearing whatsoever
on the issue of human rights and political freedom in The Gambia.  Mr. Njie,
the last time I checked, cannot throw me in jail, neither can I, or any other
Gmabia-L subscriber he has insulted throw him in jail.  The call for national
reconciliation is aimed at cleaning a much-poisoned political atmosphere that
we live in.  What's at stake is, in my mind, is our nation's destiny, not
whether or not this or that person is subscribed to Gambia-L.  For this reason,
we should never make anyone's subscription to Gambia-L a precondition to the
continuation of national reconcilation efforts.  This would not only be
foolish, it would be tragic.

2.  I am willing to consider reinstating Matarr Njie's subscription to
Gambia-L.  This does not mean that I am willing to forgive him for the insults
he has been sending me, and other Gambia-L subscribers.  What it means is that
I am prepared to turn a new page, and let all thats gone before go.  However,
there are a number of conditions that must be satisfied if Mr. Njie is to
return to Gambia-L.  These are:

a) He must promise, in a posting to Gambia-L that:

          i) he will, with immediate effect, cease and desist from any and all
attempts to slander Gambi-L, it's managers, and subscribers by spreading
unfounded allegations
         ii) he will, with immediate effect, cease his attempts at having Gambia-L
hosted by St. John's university if indeed his efforts in the past continue to
this day
        iii) he will stop sending insults to Gambia-L subscribers either on the list,
or in private in response to their postings on the list

b) He will send a posting to Gambia-L apologizing to and mentioning by name,
all Gambia-L subscribers he sent insults to in response to their postings on
Gambia-L.  In this regard, who have been insulted by Mr. Njie should send him
an e-mail message no later than a week from Wedns, Dec. 8, 1999 for them to be
included in Mr. Njie's apology.

c) He agrees that for up to 1 month after he is resubscribed to Gambia-L, his
postings will have to be approved for distribution to the list one of the list
managers.

d) He sends his apology to the list no later than Sunday, Dec. 12, 1999, or
this offer is null and void.

e) No Gambia-L managers is under no obligation to explain his or her failure to
refuse to approve Mr. Njie's posting for distributionthe.  In the same vein,
any Gambia-L manager can approve the distribution of Mr. Njie's posting,
without the concurrence of other managers.

f) An infringement of, or failure to comply with any or all of the above
conditions shall be grounds for immediate cancellation of his subscription.
Also, such cancellation will be non-revocable, and non-negotiable, until at
such a time as Gambia-L managers deem fit.

The above conditions, folks, are aimed at giving Mr. Njie a fresh start, after
making efforts to reconcile with people he has insulted in the past.  The are
also aimed at providing a speedy and convenient implementation of his
reinstatement program.

As you can imagine, I've already spent a long time on this issue, and frankly,
this will be my last posting on the matter.  The offer above is a take-it or
leave-it deal, and whatever happens, I strongly suggest we move on.

Before I end this e-mail, I would like to remind everyone that Gambia-L is not
a conscription list.  Nobody is neither drugged nor dragged into subscribing to
the list.  You either like what you see on the list, and stay, or you don't
like it and leave.  Furthermore, I would like to remind you that there are many
sites on the Internet where one can start their own mailing list.  Please try
those if you are not satisfied with Gambia-L and do not see your interests
catered to by the list.

And about the claim that most postings on Gambia-L are anti-Jammeh, I would
like to reiterate what I said in my Open letter to the President.  It is
unfortunate that very few of President Jammeh's supporters, and spokespersons
are willing to step forward and debate the issues and concerns raised by those
who are critical of him.  The way I see it, if it was bad enough that no one
would put their lives on the line to ensure that former President Jawara
remained in power, it is even more sorry that very few people would come
forward to SPEAK for President Jammeh.  Afterall, there are a number of his
representatives and officials subscribed to this list, and I wonder whether
their silence is indicative of their lack of conviction in what they are doing,
or outright incompetence.

I guess that's about all.  Please pardon the VERY long posting, but like I said
earlier, this is it for me when it comes to the issue of Matarr Njie.  Have a
great week, and best wishes in your endeavors.

Katim

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