Mr. Abdoulaye Saine you have for most parts certified my own experiences from my tour in october-november . Jammeh is popular among the poor and less educated and the women, and they all say: "he is trying".. So they give him credit, even not every thing is what it could be like. I think that was what I tried to express in my latest report/note to the Gambia-L. Some of you (thank you for the comments) told me that I was objective. Don´t say that, for one can never be objective. I tried like Mr. Saine to tell what I see with my eyes, hear with my ears, conclude with my knowledge, but I don´t speak any of the local languages, I only come in certain parts of the country and the society, and I never discussed with any of the party-leaders or the President, so I will not call my statement objective, but a signal to all of us that things are not always black or white. Mr. Saine, I also wish you a nice stay and safe journey back to USA, and look forward to more analyses from you. Regards from Asbjørn Nordam at [log in to unmask] wrote: > G-L Community: > > I have been in The Gambia for about six weeks. The last time I visited was > six years ago, following the presidential and national assembly elections. > Six years later, the atmosphere following the 2001 elections and the > violence have all but abated. 2001 appears calmer, less tense than the > post-elections period of 1996. Today, Gambians appear less tense or > agitated as they go along their daily chores to earn a dalasi. They appear, > (especially the supporters) less encumbered by excesses of the state, not > that non exist. Jammeh appears to be very popular. Much of this support > can be found among the poor and less educated, in both the urban and rural > areas, among the young and old, men and especially women. His support also > seems to transcend ethnicity, even though many of his own Jola ethnic kin > support him generally. Part of the support can also be found among > relatively well educated and highly placed Gambians. Some supporters in the > latter group appear real, others support him to keep their perks or are too > scared to say anything against him. They want to keep their jobs, that I > can understand. Life can be tough without one as the economic challenges > reveal the raw instinct of human survival. > ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ To unsubscribe/subscribe or view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~