----- Original Message -----
From: Momodou-Alieu Darboe <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 10:49 PM
Subject: Re: Re: D.K.Jawara: The Man, His Politics and Legacy


> I for my part  I doubts any Libyan involvement in the July 1981 failed
> coup.There was no evidence  to support that Kukoi had ever set foot on
> Libyan soil prior to July 81'.What had been clear was Gaddafys
> destabilization in The Sub-region during that period .However it was
Senegal
> which some how put pressure on Jawara to take The Libyan threat seriously
> after one Senegalese Nyass was accused of sending her citizens to Libya
for
> Military training .The turning point came with the Murder of Commander
> Mahoney of then Field force ,Which  the Senegalese used as  evidence to
> proof to Jawara what they had been warning him about .It was that October
> 1981 that The Senegalese Army out of nowhere and no warning came to The
> Gambia and took up key positions to the surprise of both The Field and The
> Police force .Within days, both MOJA-G and The Socialist Party were banned
> .These led to shake off at The Field Force dismissing a lot of Officers
> accused of involvement in a Coup attempt .The keen political observers
knew
> that the chaos created at the Bakau Deport laid the foundation for the
Coup
> attempt and together with Senegalese ambition of annexing The Gambia and
not
> a threat from Libya .
> Kukoi appealed to Gaddafy after The Senegalese Army had already taken most
> The Gambia  and including The Yundum Air-port and he knew that the battle
> had been lost .
> Jawara as man and Jawara as a President have some qualities which should
be
> respected and admired but as a  matter of  fact he is duty bound to
> apologized to The Gambia PEOPLE for his failures inorder to remembered as
> what Dr. Sainy portraits him .
>
>
> ----- Original Message -----
> From: Abdoulaye Saine <[log in to unmask]>
> To: <[log in to unmask]>
> Sent: Monday, December 11, 2000 9:01 PM
> Subject: Re: D.K.Jawara: The Man, His Politics and Legacy
>
>
> > 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 covert and
> > sometimes overt military action against targeted leaders and countries.
> > In fact Chester Crocker's testimony to The U.S. Senate Foreign Relations
> > Committee on July 8, 1981 presaged the events of July 30, 1981 in The
> > Gambia ( See West Africa, 20 July 1981, pp.1644-1646).
> >
> > The current state of the data at hand suggest Libyan involvement in the
> > 1981 foiled coup. I would agree with you that more data and studies on
> > the events of 1981 are needed, simply because the data are anecdotal.
> > We need more studies on the issue and my article was but a modest step
> > in that direction.
> >
> > Thanks for the comments and for helping me clarify the issue further.
> >
> > Cheers!
> > Abdoulaye
> >
> > ka wrote:
> > >
> > > Abdoulaye Saine <[log in to unmask]> wrote:
> > >
> > > "...Thus, the aborted coup of 1981 was in many ways the brainchild of
> the
> > > Libyan leader who recruited and trained Kukoi Samba Sanyang, among
> others,
> > > to carry out the coup attempt.  Others would contend, however, that
the
> > > aborted coup was the result of growing domestic inequalities.  To
date,
> > > Kukoi is based in Libya, traveling incognito to Burkina Faso, The
Gambia
> and
> > > neighboring Guinea-Bissau and Liberia..."
> > >
> > > Dr. saine,
> > >
> > > This is a very interesting piece and there have been varied reactions
to
> it.
> > > Overall, I think it has catalouged many interesting developments in
our
> > > recent political history. One point I cannot understand though is how
> "the
> > > aborted coup of 1981 was in many ways the brainchild of the Libyan
> leader
> > > who recruited and trained Kukoi Samba Sanyang, among others, to carry
> out
> > > the coup attempt"
> > >
> > > It is a known fact that although Kukoi constantly broadcast calls for
> help
> > > from Libya when it became apparent that senegal was going to intervene
> to
> > > try to crush the "coup", he, Kukoi had never set foot on Libyan soil
> prior
> > > to the 1981. Just a look at the primitive nature of the weapons used
> during
> > > the initial stage of the "coup" is one testimony that we had here to
do
> with
> > > a single man's lust for power.
> > >
> > > The myth of Libyan involvement was something concocted and peddled by
> Jawara
> > > and his crew inorder to divert attention from the real causes behind
the
> > > coup and why there was mass jubilation, i.e., mass corruption,
neglect,
> etc.
> > >
> > > I only wish that Jawara himself could set the record straight here
> instead
> > > of letting the myth linger that Libya was behind July 1981. Of course,
I
> > > agree with you that Kukoi did make contact with Libya whiles living in
> Cuba
> > > and eventually secured facilities there that were supposed to enhanced
> his
> > > second coming, there is no evidence to support libyan sponsorship of
> July
> > > 1981.
> > >
> > > Regards,
> > >
> > > Kabir.
> > >
> >
>
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