"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 _________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html You may also send subscription requests to [log in to unmask] if you have problems accessing the web interface and remember to write your full name and e-mail address. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------