Ginny, No, this man does not know anything that you dont! He spent the best part of his life "saluting" British imperialism and agents of the cabalist Kaduna mafia. I totally agree with the rest of your write-up. Omar Joof. >From: Ginny Quick <[log in to unmask]> >Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list ><[log in to unmask]> >To: [log in to unmask] >Subject: Re: UN Envoy Makes Excuses for Gambian Strongman >Date: Sun, 8 Oct 2006 12:25:12 -0500 > >Hello, excuse me for my pessimism, but this is one reason why we can't >always expect the UN to come to our aid! Look at the kind of people they >send to observe elections? The guy they sent as an "observer", was part of >a dictatorial regime himself, if I'm reading the article correctly. So we >expect this guy to say that Jammeh nad done anything wrong? "Democracy in >the developed world is something that should be handled with care"? What >is that about? "aHandled with care", like "maybe we shouldn't give the >peole democracy becuase this is Africa and thigns are different here"! You >know, I read that somewhere, and I can't remember who said it, but it was >something to that affect, that democracy in Africa, was somehow different >than democracies elsewhere. I'd like for someone to explain that to me! > > > So are we saying that for some reason, Africans don't deserve to have >functioning governments, institutions, and have the rule of law prevail, >and actually have their human rights and dignity respected!? Oh, but who >am I anyway, I'm supposedly a non-Gambian and don't know what I'm talking >about. Maybe this guy from the UN knows something I don't. But this is >just sad. If the UN gives legitimacy to this election, well, what can we >say now? > > >Anyway, I don't know what else to say that has not already been said. > >Ginny > > >----- Original Message ----- From: <[log in to unmask]> >To: <[log in to unmask]> >Sent: Sunday, October 08, 2006 11:32 AM >Subject: Fwd: UN Envoy Makes Excuses for Gambian Strongman > > >>From the pages of The Gambia Journal. >> >>UN Envoy Makes Excuses for Gambian Strongman, Whitewashing Fraud- and >>Threat-Filled Election By Inner City Press at the UN >>Oct 9, 2006, 10:35 >> >>Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at the UN >>UNITED NATIONS, October 7 -- In the Gambian election last month, >>thousands of non-Gambians from Senegal were brought in to vote by >>President Yahya Jammeh, it was admitted Friday by Kofi Annan's envoy to >>the >>election, former Nigerian General Abdulsalami Abubakar. >>Gen. Abubakar acknowledged the criticism by Gambian >>opposition groups and the Commonwealth observers of security personnel >>voting while in uniform, but stated that this is permitted by the Gambian >>Constitution. Jammeh recently said, "If I want to ban any newspaper, I >>will." >> >>Asked by Inner City Press about Yahya Jammeh's changes to the >>constitution, Gen. Abubakar said that people are entitled to their own >>opinions. Democracy, he said, is in the development world a "sensitive >>matter" that must be "done with caution." He state that the elections >>had gone "very well... I was there on election day and from what I saw >>it was peaceful." >> >>Interviewed by Inner City Press on the 35th floor of the UN >>Headquarters on Friday, just after he briefed Kofi Annan, Gen. Abubakar >>was >>dismissive of reports of Jammeh's crackdown on the press, including his >>reported involvement in the killing of the editor of The Point newspaper. >>Jammeh's >>denial in that case was that "I don't believe in killing people, I >>believe in >>locking you up for the rest of your life." >> >>Asked by Inner City Press about these and other Jammeh >>quotes, Gen. Abubaker was dismissive. "Jammeh can say he'll rule for >>the next thirty or forty years, but he could be voted out," Gen. Abubaker >>said. >> >>Yahya Jammeh took power in 1998 in The Gambia, a country of >>1.5 million people surrounded on three sides by Senegal. Industries >>include peanut farming and some tourism. In an interview with Inner >>City Press on September 21, 2006, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State >>Frazer said that the Jammeh regime is reaching out for help to China, >>Iran and Venezuela. Friday Inner City Press asked UN Envoy Gen. >>Abubaker about this. Gen. Abubaker responded by quoting Jammeh, if you >>don't have to be my friend, you can't stop me from having other friends. >> >>Asked by Inner City Press what his recommendations are, and >>what the UN will do, Gen. Abubaker first listed the need for better >>training of journalists. Perhaps a stop to the killing of journalists >>and editors would help. One wonders why Kofi Annan selected this >>Nigerian general, who ruled after Sani Abacha, as the UN envoy to the >>preordained re-election of Yahya Jammeh. >> >>After changing the constitution to allow himself to run for a third term, >>and after >>threatening districts that voted against him with losing development >>aid, he won garnered 67% of votes, to Oussainou Darboe's 27%, with >>voter turnout below 60%. This includes the votes of non-Gambians >>brought in from Senegal's still-troubled Casamance region, an influx >>that Gen. Abubaker put at "only" four thousand. >> >>When asked if there was outside influence on the Gambian >>election, Gen. Abubaker said no, despite his statement about thousands >>of non-Gambians voting. "It wouldn't have changed the result," Gen. >>Abubaker said. Apparently, nothing would have. >> >>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://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html >> >>To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: >>http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.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://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html > >To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: >http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.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://listserv.icors.org/archives/gambia-l.html To Search in the Gambia-L archives, go to: http://listserv.icors.org/SCRIPTS/WA-ICORS.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