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     EDITORIAL

  Our  today's editorial, will come as a rude shock to dictator President Yahya Jammeh and  his accomplices, who had lied time and time that Baba Jobe was never involved in the trade of 'BLOOD DIAMONDS." Despite their denials and cover up moves, the same government resorted to adopt United Nations Resolution, which ordered for the freezing of Jobe's assets in The Gambia.

  At the hills of the Jobe blood diamond scandal, the regime reacted negatively,by rebuffing the UN resolution against "Bourr Jobe", claiming that the Security Council, was bent on smearing the image of Mr.Jobe. For some reasons, best known to them, they later took a U turn, by  freezing Jobe's assets. What is clear though,  is that Baba Jobe was Jammeh's boy boy and as such the reaction of the regime never came as a surprise to us, we Gambians. Jobe, had  on several occasions   acted on the President's orders and was assigned by Jammeh to run the operations of Jammeh's own aircraft called the New Millennium. The said plane was indicted by the UN Security Council, alongside with Baba K Jobe for arm trafficking and blood diamond sale.

  It had always been our contention that, the UN should investigate possible conspiracy deal in this scandalous state of affairs, since President Jammeh, owned the said indicted aircraft. The protest letters dispatched by  The Gambian government, exonerating Jobe, from  any wrong doing, shortly after the UN releases its findings speak volumes.  We are publishing today protest letters, issued by  Baboucarr-Blaise Ismaila Jagne and Dr.Momodou Lamin Sedat Jobe, who strongly rejected the UN findings against Baba Jobe.  Messrs Jagne and Jobe acted under the orders of  Jammeh, to dismiss the UN findings.  What is clear though,  Baba  Jobe was working hand in  hand with Jammeh and in the interest of  justice and fair play Jammeh should be investigated by the UN.  The extradiction of  Jobe to the UN War crime court in Sierra Leone,  will help a great deal to get to the bottom of the truth,  on this embarrassing state of affairs.

  We will begin by drawing your attention to a letter written by  Kishore Mahbubani,  Chairman of  the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1343 (2001) concerning Liberia.  In the said correspondence, Mahbubani, informed the Security Council, about a  Communication he received from The Gambian representative at the UN.  Please read on....
  United Nations S/2001/704 Security Council Distr.: General 17 July 2001 Original: English
  01-46050 (E) 180701 *0146050* Letter dated 16 July 2001 from the Chairman of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to
  resolution 1343 (2001) concerning Liberia addressed to the President of the Security Council

  On behalf of the Security Council Committee established pursuant to resolution 1343 (2001) concerning Liberia, I have the honour to transmit herewith a copy of a letter dated 9 July 2001 from the Permanent  Representative of the Gambia to the United Nations (see annex). I would appreciate it if this letter and its annex were issued as a document of
  the Security Council.

  (Signed) Kishore Mahbubani
  Chairman Security Council Committee established
  pursuant to resolution 1343 (2001) concerning Liberia
  2 S/2001/704 Annex

  In another development, we also had in our possession a letter authored by former Gambian ambassador to the UN Baboucarr-Blaise Ismaila Jagne,  who also informed the Security Council, about  The Gambian government's position on the Baba Jobe blood diamond scandal. Jagne, commented on a protest letter sent to the world body by former Gambian  Foreign Affairs Minister,  Dr.Momodou Sedat Jobe, exonerating Baba Jobe, from any arm trafficking and blood diamond sale.  Please read on......

  Further to my communication of 27 June 2001, acknowledging receipt of your letter of 7 June 2001, I have the honour, upon the instructions of my Government, to resubmit the letter attached, addressed to you by Momodou Lamin Sedat Jobe, Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs of the Republic of the Gambia, in response to your request contained in your letter mentioned above. I should therefore be most grateful if you could please circulate the attached letter, dated 27 June 2001, as a document of the Security Council.

  (Signed) Baboucarr-Blaise Ismaila Jagne
  Ambassador
  Permanent Representative
  3
  S/2001/704
  Attachment
  I refer to your communications of 7 June 2001, conveying the content of
  resolution 1343 (2001), and 4 June 2001, addressed to the Permanent Representative of the Gambia.

  Following the release of the report of the Security Council Panel of Experts on Sierra Leone Diamonds and Arms, the Government of the Gambia, through its Permanent Representative in New York, addressed a letter on 23 January 2001 to you, inviting the Panel of Experts to visit the Gambia before the Security Council considered the report. I am therefore surprised that, despite the fact that no reaction to my Government’s request was forthcoming from you and without any pre information or request for clarification from the Gambia, when the subject of sanctions on Liberia was being discussed, a Gambian national, Baba Jobe, has been included in the list of Liberian nationals affected by the Security Council travel ban. I am even more amazed by the fact that the mention of Mr. Jobe’s name on the list was accompanied neither by an indication of his passport number nor his date of birth, as is the case with the other persons affected by the sanction.

  Following informal enquiries with the sanctions Committee, my  Representative at the United Nations was informed that the inclusion of Mr. Jobe’s name on the list was a result of a request from the French, British and United States Governments. Consequently a formal request was sent to you, demanding the details surrounding such a serious allegation which the Government of the Gambia definitely cannot treat lightly, if it is corroborated with evidence.

  Having waited for almost four weeks for your response, we have taken it upon ourselves to inform the Gambian public that we believe that the decision to include a Gambian on the list was a well-calculated move and is prejudicial to my country, which despite its size has been playing a major role in the quest for peace and stability in the West African subregion beyond. Furthermore, my Department of State has decided to inform the international community about the very undemocratic, illegal and non-transparent manner in which the Security Council handled this matter.  The Government of the Gambia is aggrieved by the fact that a decision of such magnitude has been taken without any research and consultations with the country affected. It must be noted that situations like this one will, sooner rather than later, undermine the moral authority of the sanctions Committee. When I consulted with the British, French and American Missions in the Gambia, they did not seem to know about the
 origin of the inclusion of the Gambian national. This can hardly be an illustration of the high standard of justice and equity that is expected of the Committee in passing judgement on Member States and their citizens.

  It is my belief that the inclusion of the Gambian national in the list is an error which is of great prejudice to the individual and the prestige of the Gambia as a country.  Let me draw your attention to the fact that the Gambia, as a signatory to the ECOWAS Moratorium on the Importation, Exportation and Manufacture of Small Arms and Light Weapons in West Africa, signed in 1998, is the only State that has not so far requested a waiver of the Moratorium in order to import or export arms.

  4 S/2001/704 The Gambian President, Alhaji Yahya A. J. J. Jammeh, has even gone beyond that and informed Member States parties to the agreement very clearly that, if they continue to request waivers, there would be no raison d’être for the Moratorium.

  Against this background, therefore, describing a Gambian official as an arms trafficker is not only a very serious matter but a case that has to be followed up, so that the Gambian public can have all the details necessary for a better understanding of the matter. It is our belief that this accusation is unfounded, because if it were true the matter would have been treated more professionally and we would have received a detailed communication from the Committee prior to the publication of
  the list.

   If the foregoing is confirmed the sanctions Committee must convince the whole world that it is fair and respectable and has the courage of recognizing its mistakes when they do occur, especially when they tarnish the international reputation of a State Member of the United Nations which gave invaluable service to the Security Council during the two years that it served as one of its non-permanent members.

  While awaiting your reactions, I beg you to accept the assurances of my
  highest consideration and the sincere will of the Government and people of the Gambia to assist the Security Council in its endeavour to create a world of peace, justice and equity.

  Momodou Lamin Sedat Jobe
  Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs

  My dear and valued readers,  what do you make out of Dr.Jobe's assertion that"Against this background, therefore, describing  a  Gambian official as an arms trafficker is not only a very serious matter but a case that has to be followed up, so that the Gambian public can have all the details necessary for a better understanding of the matter. It is our belief that this accusation is unfounded, because if it were true the matter would have been treated more professionally and we would have received a detailed communication from the Committee prior to the publication of the list." Is this not conspiracy? Jobe, Jagne and their boss Yahya Jammeh were hell bent on aiding and abetting Baba Jobe. There is more to the story. Jammeh's hands are not clean and as such he wouldn't want the UN to indict his  errand boy Baba Jobe.

  As, we told you the other day, there are well placed and credible sources in your administration feeding us with classified state documents. These sources dined  and do things with you and are always availbale round the clock to expose your corrupt practices. This editorial is not malicious at all. We are  just trying to draw the attention of the UN about the need to further dig into the Jobe arms and blood diamond scandal.  It takes two to tango.  Our source  who worked at  Gambia's Foreign office, had vowed to further spill the beans, since according to the source"Proceeds of the new  Millennium  were handed to the President by Baba Jobe, who was appointed to oversee  the operation  of the  said  plane.  Baba was given the power of attorney  by the President to hire and fire staffers of the New  Millennium and all proceeds derived from the  jet were hand delivered by Jobe to the President. Baba also used to provide foreign exchange for the President  and the First Lady each time
 they travelled outside the country.  He was warned by the state not to comment on the New  Millennium during his trial. These documents, I forwarded to you are authentic and credible. Trust me."said our source, at the  Department of  State for  Foreign Affairs.

  In view of these revelations, we are asking the UN to sponsor a  resolution that will compel the Jammeh, government to hand over Jobe to the UN court in Sierra Leone. It is our firm belief that, in order to get to the whole truth surrounding this saga, Jobe should be extradited to Freetown to face justice.  Now that Jammeh's own servants  are speaking out,  is a positive development. The said source said the information he  volunteered  'is a  tip of the ice berg."  He commented  on  Libyan arms that were brought into the country, "thanks to what the source called Baba Jobe's efforts."  "Now that things are tought for them, they thought that the best way to  conceal the truth was to imprison Baba.  Baba, was never acting on his own. Jammeh, was privy of all the transactions of  his plane."said our source.

  On a final note, we want to inform Gambians and the civilised world that Jammeh is not a clean leader. A leader who survived on  lies and deception will end in disgrace. There is no doubt in our mind that the poor defense initiated by The Gambian government to vindicate  Baba Jobe,  was calculated to deceive and mislead the United Nations. This exposes the type of criminal government,  we have in The Gambia.  It is time for the UN to probe Jammeh and all accomplices to the Jobe arms scandal.  We have seen the atrocities linked to blood diamonds  on the  African continent. The chopping of hands and legs in  Sierra Leone  by so called rebels is still fresh in our mind.  We want the world body to reopen  Baba Jobe's  file and trace his accomplices. The people of "Salone and Morovia"  want to see all those linked to these atrocities to face justice at the soonest  possible time.  We rest our case......

  The author is the former Secretary General of The Gambia press Union and also a former Voice of America radio Banjul Correspondent. Mr. M'Bai who now resides in the US State of North Carolina Raleigh was a leading political and crime reporter with the Point and Daily Observer newspapers respectively. He can be reached by email at the following addresses: [log in to unmask], [log in to unmask] or [log in to unmask]













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