Courtesy of the Independent Newspaper The National Intelligent Agency (NIA) Wednesday morning invited our senior staff reporter Alhagie Mbye for questioning regarding a story published in The Independent on Monday July 9 in which Fabakary Kolior Camara ex-APRC militant vowed to expose Baba Jobe in an international court. The NIA who invited Mr. Mbye by telephone said that they needed him for clarification. When he went to the NIA head office, he was asked to answer certain questions pertaining to an interview he had with Fabakary Kolior Camara. Two NIA personnel Tijan Bah of the investigation department and Demba Ceesay, a lab technician and document examiner interrogated him. Fabakary Kolior Camara was last Monday arrested by the Mansakonko police at Sey Kunda Village in Jarra West while he was on tour with the National Assembly member for the area Kemesseng Jammeh. He was handed over to Musa Kinteh the NIA officer at Soma police station who then took him away. Many on-lookers expressed concern about his safety, recalling the several threats made to kill him. When our reporter contacted the Police Public Relations Officer Sub-Inspector Aziz Bojang, he confirmed Camara's arrest but said he has been handed over to the NIA for further investigation. When Mr. Mbye went to the NIA, he found Fabakary Kolior Camara there. Both he and Mr. Mbye were later called in an office where a copy of The Independent containing the article was held by Tijan Bah who was then reading it and asking questions to them both. According to Mr. Mbye, Tijan said the article was dangerous and that it threatened state security, which he said, was their duty to deal with. Mr. Bah, he said maintained that the NIA were concerned about the issue of arms and terrorism and that The Independent should not have published the story. Mr. Mbye said the NIA officials warned him to desist from writing about NIA affairs and stressed to him that he (Mbye) should have been detained until he got the proof of the story. However, according to Mr. Mbye, he told the NIA officials that it was Kolior Camara who on several occasions contacted The Independent regarding the story and that several unsuccessful attempts were made to talk to Baba Jobe about the story. While they were being interrogated at the NIA, Mr. Mbye said the entire proceedings were being recorded on video with a video camera placed on a table. Mr. Mbye denied suggestions that he invented the story but he told the NIA that it was not the first time that he interviewed Mr. Camara and that he (Camara) never complained or reacted to any of the stories until when he was taken to the NIA. Mr. Mbye was then asked to write down a statement and sign it before he was released, with a warning by the NIA officials that the security of the country will not be compromised. In his reaction, Bakary Kolior Camara told the NIA in the presence of Mr. Mbye that he was partly misquoted during the interview and that he did not mean that the defunct July 22 Movement members were terrorists. He said also that what he said about Baba Jobe was that if there was any proof he was prepared to give evidence against Mr. Jobe in an international court. He also told the NIA that there was a breakdown in communication between him and Mr. Mbye as some people were making noise beside him at the UDP bureau during the interview. He said that he did not properly understand what the UN Security Council Resolution 1343 entailed. He said that he is a strong supporter of President Jammeh. He told the NIA that he is behind President Jammeh's development initiative and that his vote was for him. He added that he was not aware of any arms in the possession of anyone. "I only have grievances against the July 22 Movement members because I was marginalized by them. I am not loyal to Lawyer Darboe. My vote is for Jammeh and I mean it," he told the NIA personnel. Mr. Camara also complained that he has been in the hands of the NIA for three days without taking bath or praying and that he was only getting one meal a day. However when he was asked by the officers whether he was not being given food and drink regularly, he responded that he was not saying anything under duress and that he was neither beaten nor harassed by anyone. "I am eating regularly," he remarked. Mr. Camara however pleaded that he should be released as he has been told that his mother was crying both day and night. The NIA promised to release him as soon as possible. ---------------------------------------------------------------------------- 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. ----------------------------------------------------------------------------