Below was culled from All Africa. We have terrorists now pointing fingers at others as terrorists. This is why the war on terrorism is failing. Why is the US government going around cuddling all these terrorists/dictators as part of their army in the fight against terrorism. And they wonder why the peoples that live under these dictators/terrorists have anti-American policy feelings. This cuddling of this criminal enterprise is telling Gambians that the US government is not interested that Jammeh murdered our kids and nothing came of it; that the murder of his Finance Minister, koro Ceesay, is not their interest; They are not interested that Jammeh and Baba Jobe are culprits that participated in the killings and lootings in Sierra Leone and Liberia; They are not interested that our people are starving and our economy has bottomed out. If the US government wants to really fight terrorism, they ought to start with these terrorists/dictators, otherwise, they are just wasting their time. We all know that Jammeh will lie about anybody that has middle eastern background being a terrorist. These dictators know that all the US is interested in is to be pointed to this and that one as terrorists and all are game. Their (dictator/terrorists) motive is purely financial and for themselves only. Gambians are dying of hunger and want and the US Government is running after a scam. The US government for the past forty years had an appetite for favoring a policy of dealing with dictators in Africa and the so-called Third World, and it has not worked to their favor. They call for democracy, but look at who they cuddle all over the place - The Jammeh types. You name the worst tyrants/terrorists in Africa and they are or where the US point persons in that continent. This must change. In the midst of the misery of the people, the US cannot and should not come to Gambians to legitimize this brutal dictatorship in the name of fighting terrorism. Gambians are not stupid. We know that Jammeh is running a scam when he committed to 'Article 98'. Any democratic minded person know that a war criminal is a war criminal and a war criminal, regardless of national origin. Why should US war criminals be treated any different. And they wonder why the Serbs refused to surrender their two highest war criminals. So, in short, the US cannot use terrorists to bring them terrorists, it's not going to happen. If the US wants to see meaningful results in the fight against terrorism, they need to stop legitimizing terrorists like Jammeh. It is the Gambian people that can help you fight terrorism if there are any in the Gambia, but you have to help them fight their own terror first, Yaya Jammeh. Please read on. Al-Qaeda Suspects Arrested in the Gambia The Independent (Banjul) December 23, 2002 Posted to the web December 23, 2002 Banjul Four Arabs of Middle Eastern origin suspected of close links with Osama Bin Ladin's al Qaeda network were arrested last month and held incommunicado by the National Intelligence Agency. Bisher Al-Rawi an Iraqi national and Jamil El Banna a Jordanian and another man described as a business associate were arrested on arrival at the Banjul International Airport on November 8 and spent almost a month in incommunicado detention. A fourth man, Bisher Al-Rawi's brother, Wahab Al-Rawi, who had arrived in The Gambia some days earlier, and who had gone to the airport to meet them, was also arrested. They were reportedly initially told that there was a problem with their visa applications but were subsequently questioned on their alleged links to 'terrorist groups'. The four men, released on December 5 and based in the UK, had reportedly travelled to The Gambia in connection with a peanut processing company set up by Wahab Al-Rawi. After an initially brief period of questioning at the headquarters of the National Intelligence Agency on the purpose of their visit, questioning was then allegedly taken over by US investigators whose presence here was until recently unknown. The men were reported to have been held in several houses including the Tallinding residence of former NIA boss Kebba Ceesay. At least one of them was reportedly threatened by US investigators while another of the suspects may have been injured during his detention. Wahab Al-Rawi and the third business associate, both of whom have acquired British nationality, were released without charge on or around 5 December and have since left The Gambia. Before the Arabs left for the United Kingdom two weeks ago, Amnesty International had appealed to The Gambia government, saying they were seriously concerned for the safety of Bisher Al-Rawi and Jamil El Banna. Jamil El Banna is believed to be a diabetic and so Amnesty International were concerned that he may have not have had access to medication or a doctor as required. In a December 11 written appeal (AI Index: AFR 27/006/2002) (UA 359/02) to President Jammeh and copied to US Ambassador, Jackson McDonald, NIA's Director General, Abdoulie Kujabi, Foreign Affairs Minister, Baboucarr Blaise Jagne, Attorney General, Joseph Joof and other diplomatic representatives, Amnesty International appealed to the Gambian leader to guarantee that the four men were protected from all forms of ill-treatment and intimidation by both Gambian and US investigators, and that any allegations of ill-treatment and intimidation be fairly investigated; Amnesty International had also requested for clarification over the reasons behind the arrest and prolonged detention. They had also demanded that should the detention of the four be prolonged, the al-Qaeda suspects should be given immediate access to medical care, legal counsel and human rights groups. The human rights concern, which has a chapter in The Gambia also demanded that the four be released if they had not been promptly charged with a recognizably criminal offence for which there is substantiating evidence. Since 11 September 2001, Amnesty International have expressed concern on numerous occasions at the arbitrary arrest and unlawful detention of people suspected of links, often arbitrarily on the basis of nationality or religion, with al-Qaeda. Prior to the arrests The Gambia had had no known links to 'terrorist' groups aligned to al Qaeda. By the time of the arrests The Gambia had not introduced specific anti-terrorism legislation in the wake of September 11 although since Friday, the National Assembly had ratified bills opposed to terrorism. These anti-terrorism clampdowns and the latest legislation that followed them indicate The Gambia government's commitment to the crusade against terror. Out of twelve UN Conventions on terrorism, it has signed ten. Since October The Gambia has developed close ties with the United States after it signed an impunity agreement with that country. Such an agreement categorised as 'Article 98' deals, commits The Gambia not to surrender US citizens accused of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes to the International Criminal Court. _________________________________________________________________ The new MSN 8: smart spam protection and 3 months FREE*. http://join.msn.com/?page=features/junkmail&xAPID=42&PS=47575&PI=7324&DI=7474&SU= http://www.hotmail.msn.com/cgi-bin/getmsg&HL=1216hotmailtaglines_smartspamprotection_3mf ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ 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] ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~