Government Reacts to Bissau Allegations, President Yala's Claims Described As Hypocritical The Independent (Banjul) June 17, 2002 Posted to the web June 18, 2002 Banjul In the first public statement yet by a senior government official since accusations from Guinea-Bissau's President Kumba Yala that The Gambia covertly masterminded a foiled coup to oust him, Ousman Badjie the Secretary of State for the Interior has denied any Gambian connection with the alleged coup plotters and their intentions, saying it was as impossible as it was ridiculous. Using Friday's occasion for the opening of two police posts in Manjai-kunda and Bakoteh to state the government's position, SoS Badjie described the Guinean leader's accusations of a Gambian-backed coup in Bissau as preposterous and hypocritical. The Interior Secretary who in turn accused President Kumba Yala of masterminding an international campaign to tarnish what he called the good name of The Gambia, said it was plainly untrue that the alleged Bissau coupists had come from The Gambia, where according to Yala's accusations they had received training and the blessing of President Jammeh's government. The Secretary of State who did not indicate The Gambia's state of readiness to defend itself if the Guinean leader should carry out his threat of an invasion pointed out that it was rather a ludicrous departure from diplomatic norms and protocol for a leader like Kumba Yala who has benefited from President Jammeh's goodwill since he was democratically elected to openly link The Gambia with the irresponsible acts of a band of anarchists whose actions would not only gravely affect Bissau but may also ricochet to neighbouring nations. 'How can Bissau's alleged coup plotters come from The Gambia, which just a couple of years ago gave shelter to many Bissau Guineans during the brutal war between General Ansumana Mane's soldiers and those backing Nino Vieira's regime' he inquired. He emphasised that The Gambia has nothing to gain from a conspiracy to oust the leader of democratic nation like Guinea-Bissau. According to him there was something tellingly inconsistent with President Yala's allegations and what he called the pivotal role played by The Gambia in the restoration of peace, normalcy and order in Guinea-Bissau, which was being ravaged by a civil war. He said far from conspiring with anarchists over an unholy enterprise, The Gambia government under Yahya Jammeh had been genuinely engaged in brotherly rapprochement with Kumba Yala's regime to banish anarchy not only from their respective countries but also from the entire sub-region. SOS Badjie added that apart from facilitating peace in Bissau The Gambia at the United Nations in New York paid the Chairman of Committee of Friends of Guinea Bissau and valiantly strove to ensure that the international community provide much needed development assistance to post-war Bissau. 'So how can a country like ours which has done all that for our neighbours in Guinea-Bissau connive in the overthrow of a democratically elected government' he re-inquired. He added that as the Secretary of State for the Interior, he was merely echoing the government's total and unreserved condemnation of President Yala's accusations as unfounded, baseless and lacking in logic. According to him Kumba Yala's image-battering campaign would not succeed in that The Gambia has built a formidable reputation as a peace-loving nation with a warm, gentle and God-fearing people. He said The Gambia's policy towards its neighbours has been guided by the notion that she cannot enjoy peace and tranquility when there is instability in other neighbouring countries, hence President Jammeh's involvement in the process to bring peace in Sierra Leone, Guinea-Bissau and more notably Casamance. Meanwhile SoS Badjie also sounded a note of caution to Gambians to be vigilant and mindful of the type of people who rent their houses, since they could be unwittingly habouring faceless trouble-makers with an outside reach. Ousman Badjie is the first government functionary to apparently reflect the position of the government over President Kumba Yala's allegations of a 'Gambian hand' in the alleged coup against him. Aside from the allegations President Yala had also spoken openly of plans to invade The Gambia to 'smash or crush' Yahya Jammeh's government as a punitive measure for its alleged backing of the alleged plot. He was announcing a general amnesty offer to 169 alleged coup plotters who he said were from 'parallel networks' of Bissau Guineans based in neighbouring countries among them The Gambia. _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. 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 To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~