The United Relief Service will organize a commercial fund raising dance on the 28th of September at the YMCA in Atlanta. YMCA is located on campbellton rd near the campbellton plaza.the famous Gambian Dj solomon and a band from Somalia will entertain the crowd.for more information contact Ebou Janha at 678-887-3679 or ousman at 404-493-5392. come and support the charitable organization. >From: Momodou Camara <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: FWD:Polician's home ablaze as France sends troops to Ivory Coast >Date: Sun, 22 Sep 2002 11:41:06 +0200 > >ABIDJAN, Sept 22 (AFP) - The home of a key opposition leader was set alight >overnight in continuing violence following a coup bid in Ivory Coast >prompting >France to send troops to its former west African colony, officials said on >Sunday. > AFP correspondents saw smoke and flames billowing from the residence of >opposition leader Alassane Ouattara. > "Mr Ouattara's residence, in the upmarket Cocody district of Abidjan, >was >set alight by elements of the security forces there," Aly Coulibaly, >spokesman >for Ouattara's Rally of Republicans (RDR) party told AFP by telephone. > Ouattara, 60, who served as prime minister from 1990 to 1993, has >sought >refuge at the French embassy in Abidjan with the approval of Ivorian >authorities. > Outtara said: "The German ambassador told me that it (Ouattara's home) >was >on the point of collapsing". > The opposition leader said that the arson attack "could only be the >work of > >the security forces because there is a curfew in place. I called the fire >brigade but so far no one has arrived". > Ouattara confirmed that he was still staying in the French embassy, >where >he has taken refuge since the rebel uprising which began on Thursday. > With the country's second city, Bouake, in central Ivory Coast, and the >northern town of Korhogo still under rebel control and tensions high in >Abidjan, France dispatched troop reinforcements to ensure the security of >French citizens and the international community, the French army chief of >staff said early Sunday. > More than 100 reinforcements arrived in the west African nation aboard >a >transport plane, accompanied by helicopters, from other French bases in >Africa. > > "Under precautionary measures decided by the French authorities to >assure >the security of French citizens and the international community, the army >chief-of-staff has reinforced the military unit stationed in Abidjan," the >army said in a statement. > France already had a 600-strong contingent in the main Ivorian city of >Abidjan. It also has bases in Chad, Senegal, Gabon and Djibouti, with a >total >of some 6,000 troops. > With an estimated 20,000 French citizens living in Ivory Coast, >officials >in Paris said the reinforcements were being sent in as an implicit message >to >rebels that they will take quick action in the event of an attack on the >French community. > French officials also made it clear that the deployment did not mean >France > >intended to intervene in the crisis in any way, which the French defence >minister, Michele Alliot-Marie called a "purely internal affair". > In a statement on Friday, the defence minister added, "it appears that >there is no threat at all" to the French community or other Westerners. > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ > >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] > >~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ peace, ous _________________________________________________________________ Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: http://mobile.msn.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] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~