>From: Dampha Kebba<[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list<[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Re: UDP accident caused by a Grenade?
>Date: Wed, 10 Jan 2001 09:57:28 -0500
>
>Ebrima, frankly if I were you, I will not waste time with these
>diversionary
>comments. You and others had made it clear time and again that most
>of what
>you report are not necessarily your personal views. For crying out
>loud, you
>are not in The Gambia. No one is trying here to absolve you of
>culpability
>if you or your Sources knowingly propagate a lie. In my opinion, the
>test
>should be 'did Ebrima know that something was untrue and then went
>ahead and
>publish it?'. Since I joined G_L, am yet to see your worst critic
>come here
>and point to something you reported and say that you and your
>Sources
>fabricated a story. Instead, what we get is people laboriously
>nit-picking
>your postings to come up with some semblance of inconsistency to
>attack you
>with. Some go beyond attacking and arrogantly ask you to apologize
>to the
>likes of Yaya. Well people are free even to come here and make a
>fool of
>themselves. So the purpose of this posting is not to prevent anyone
>from
>criticizing you. My purpose is to appeal to you to ignore such side
>non-issues and convey to your Sources that there are numerous people
>out
>here that appreciate their invaluable contributions to the struggle.
>We know
>that you had acted honorably in the past to rectify errors in your
>reporting. We also know that you and your Sources are not motivated
>by
>politics to speak untruth. As we have said on many occasions, we are
>all
>matured adults (I hope). If we read something from you, we should
>make our
>own assessments and come to our conclusions. If your Sources report
>that the
>van was blown by a grenade, and DaCosta has solid facts to the
>contrary, let
>him come out with those facts. If all he can come up with are mere
>deductions, then I counsel you not to waste time with him. What
>political
>points would the opposition score by proving that Yaya orchestrated
>the
>murder of two opposition MPs? Yaya orchestrated the murder of more
>than a
>dozen children in broad daylight. If we are not trying to score
>points with
>that heinous crime, why would we want to exploit the grieve of the
>families
>of our fallen heroes that died last Saturday? To accuse you of
>politicking
>in this case is despicable. The death had barely been laid to rest,
>there
>are victims still fighting for their lives, and what do we have?
>Yaya
>apologists accusing you of fabricating stories for political gain.
>There are
>ways and means your friends try to help authenticate the reports
>from your
>Sources. I am sure you have on numerous occasions received private
>mail from
>friends of the struggle giving you somewhat conflicting perspectives
>from
>those reported from your Sources. I am also sure that when that
>happened,
>both you and your Sources took the opposing views in good faith and
>put the
>record straight. We do not need self promoters coming out here to
>try and
>discredit everything you and your Sources are doing and have done,
>because
>of one story. Once again, thanks for the good job you and your
>Sources are
>doing. We appreciate their efforts. Knowing how callous this
>government is,
>we understand the tremendous risk these people put their lives in
>when they
>report to you. Continue the good work.. And remember, no one has
>said that
>you and or your Sources deliberately told a lie.
>KB
>
>
>
>>From: Ebrima Ceesay<[log in to unmask]>
>>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
>><[log in to unmask]>
>>To: [log in to unmask]
>>Subject: Re: UDP accident caused by a Grenade?
>>Date: Tue, 9 Jan 2001 21:55:43 -0000
>>
>>"Emmanuel DaCosta",
>>
>>I thank you for your comments on Gambia-L which you addressed
>>directly to
>>me.
>>
>>I should inform you that my sources are people of great integrity,
>>and that
>>they would never seek to fabricate the truth for the sake of a
>>political
>>point. My sources put their lives on the line each time they
>>communicate
>>with us in the Diaspora ( were you aware that some Iranian computer
>>hackers
>>have recently been brought into The Gambia by Jammeh to try to
>>track down
>>where the messages are coming from ?
>>
>>My sources are people who could easily make a comfortable life in
>>the West,
>>but are putting themselves and their families at risk and
>>sacrificing
>>themselves for the sake of their country by remaining at home. They
>>even go
>>to the extent of telephoning me on my mobile phone in the UK, to
>>let me
>>know
>>that they have posted more messages to my personal mail box: these
>>phone
>>calls are extremely expensive for them to make from The Gambia. But
>>these
>>are indications of the importance my sources place on providing
>>up-to-date
>>information to those of us out of the country.
>>
>>Equally, I myself have an extremely busy schedule these days, but I
>>am
>>trying to find time to post on these messages from my sources at
>>home, and
>>also to provide incisive comment and analysis on issues relating to
>>The
>>Gambia.
>>
>>I cannot personally vouch for the accuracy or otherwise of the
>>reports
>>submitted by my sources: I see it as my role to post on to the
>>List all
>>relevant materials relating to events submitted by them. Where I
>>can, I
>>provide additional comment: where I cannot, I send the messages
>>without
>>comment. It is precisely for Gambians like yourself to decide how
>>much
>>faith you wish to place in the information being submitted by my
>>sources.
>>I
>>have to say, in my sources’ defence, that they have usually proved
>>to be
>>accurate: in the case of this tragedy, time will tell.
>>
>>The information on the "accident" at the moment is very scanty, and
>>there
>>are several discrepancies in the current reports: for instance,
>>according
>>to the story in The Point Newspaper of 9th January 2001, the
>>"accident"
>>happened because a front tyre burst: yesterday, the Observer
>>Newspaper
>>(like my source’s e-mail) told of how the "accident" was caused by
>>the
>>bursting of rear tyres. The Pan African News Agency (PANA) in
>>their
>>report,
>>say merely that the tyre(s) burst.
>>
>>At this stage, nobody knows really what happened: one of my
>>sources tells
>>us that having spoken to two of his contacts in the NIA and the
>>Army, it
>>seems to him that a grenade was used to cause the "accident". None
>>of
>>those
>>who survived have yet been able to give first-hand reports on what
>>actually
>>happened, and on what they feel might have been the cause of the
>>"accident".
>>
>>Let us therefore wait for the survivors to tell us their accounts
>>of and
>>opinions on what and how it happened. It will then be the time to
>>undertake
>>further interpretation, analysis and comment.
>>
>>You’ll be surprised to hear this, but I myself have been in touch
>>with
>>friends in Banjul and, interestingly, the grenade theory is very
>>rife
>>there.
>> Many people genuinely believe that a grenade (or similar sinister
>>device)
>>was the direct cause of the accident. Anyway, only time will tell,
>>and
>>there needs to be a thorough investigation of this terrible
>>tragedy.
>>
>>No-one should be scoring political points from a dreadful event
>>such as
>>this
>>one.
>>
>>We all send our condolences and prayers to the families of the
>>bereaved.
>>
>>Ebrima Ceesay
>>Birmingham, UK
>>
>>
>>_________________________________________________________________________
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