Thanks for new year messages. It will be good to know the names of the soldiers Hamat Bah mentioned. I am sure they are Yaya's close protection. Happy new year... > In 2004, Lamin Waa Juwara of the Opposition National > Democratic Action Movement Party NDAM, informed the Point > Newspaper that his life was threatened by people posing > as NIA officers. Waa intimated that the men wanted > to abduct and kill him. But thanks to his > gallant NDAM supporters, the assassination attempt was > quelled. They insisted that "Mbarodi" was not going > to move an inch and that they placed their lives on the > line if the alleged NIA abductors should behave otherwise. > > I remember the late Deyda Hydara talking to Waa on the > phone and expressed concerned about the state of affairs. > As a matter of fact, Deyda, condemned the alleged > plans to kill waa in his "teeth Bite column" He urged > Gambians to nurture our cherished peace. In short, he > said killing of political opponents was not the solution to > the country's economic and political woes. Hydara urged > the Jammeh administration to be tolerant and uphold the rule > of law. > > JAMMEH SILENCE OVER DEYDA'S DEATH > > Decent and democratic leaders will always condemn such barbaric > act. But president Yahya Jammeh have not demonstrated this. > He had been silence over Deyda's death. To say that the > police have condemned it is not enough. > Gambians are eager to hear what their president will say > about this horrific incident. > > May be his government is implicated. That is why he > is reluctant to comment on the issue? Whatever, the > case might be Gambians will know those behind this > cowardly act one day. Jammeh had always perceived the > private press as illegitimate sons of Africa. Such a leader > will do everything > to undermine the patriotic sons and daughters of Africa > trying to advocate for press freedom and democracy. He > always used the word patriotism, when he doesn't practise it. > If Jammeh was patriotic as he claimed, he wouldn't > have used violence to topple the democratically elected > government of Jawara. When you joined the military, you > sworn to > defend and uphold Gambia's constitution. But due to greed > and ignorance you and other junior officers of the Gambian > army decided to stage a coup against the PPP administration. > > TERROR CAMPAIGN AGAINST JOURNALISTS > > > Just recently, a prominent opposition figure in the person > Hamat Bah, named two or three state Guards personnel as > being allegedly responsible for the arson attacks on the > Independent Newspaper. The government have not done > anything to arrest those responsible for this barbaric act. > Instead, it tried to down play > Mr.Bah's claims. Whether they like or not these implicated > soldiers will face justice one day. The crime they are > linked to is a serious one, which cannot go unpunished. > The regime had repeatedly targeted the Point and the > Independent Newspaper for persecution. Arresting and fire > bombing media houses in the country. The > hands of Jammeh and his tyrannical regime are stained with > blood and its time to seek repentance before it is too > late. Gambians will not forget the persecution they suffered > from Jammeh's Gambian / Libyan trained thugs. > > WHY WAS ARMY CHIEF VINCENT > JATTA > FIRED FROM THE ARMY? > > Jammeh is good at diverting public attention when such > horrific things happerned. Vincent was sacked few days > after Deyda's death. It is widely claimed that Vincent > protested Deyda's killing and vowed to resign from the army > if the killings should continue. Apparently according to > highly placed sources, the former Army chief is > placed on constant surveillance. Gambians should not be > surprised if Vincent is arrested and placed on bogus charges. > We do know that the autopsy report on Deyda's death > had indicates the marked of the bullets which was used to > kill the journalist. The Gambian army should conduct > an inventory now to establish the owners of the guns. > > WHY WAS DEYDA KILLED? > > > Shortly after the Independent Newspaper arson attack, a > former senior soldier came to our office to indicate that he > recognised the pistol which was used by the arsonists to burn > down the independent Newspaper. According to the former > soldier, the pistol was a "French Mark" which was used by > the Gambian Army and the then TSG. He said if proper > inventory is > conducted the perpetrator(s) of the Independent arson attack will > be apprehended. Upon receiving this patriotic ex soldier > in my office, i informed Deyda who insisted that the > man's assertions should be published. In an interview, > the former soldier also criticised the police crime coordinator > for touching the pistol with his hands, while at the > scene of the crime. The soldier said the CMC failed to > apply basic investigative techniques while to probe the > incident. He argued that the CMC should have used a > plastic cover to touch the gun. By touching the pistol with > his hands, said the soldier will discredit future > investigations. He cited the possible way of erasing the > finger prints of the > perpetrators by the CMC. He was very right. You > don't need to go a detective school to know these basic > things. But for whatever reasons, these fundamental > investigative procedures were ignored. Our paper ran the > soldier's story, but there was no denial from the side of > the government. The former soldier went as far > as saying that if he was in the military he will trace the > perpetrators. What type of government do we have back home? > Its time to end the culture of gun happy soldiers. Nobody > is safe in today's Gambia. > > > > > > Express yourself instantly with MSN Messenger! MSN > Messenger Download today it's FREE! > > いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい > 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 Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: > http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l > To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: > [log in to unmask] > いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい > いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい 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 Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/CGI/wa.exe?S1=gambia-l To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] いいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいいい