Gambia: President Says Palace Attack Was Conducted by ‘Terrorist Groups’
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Version 0 of 1. President Yahya Jammeh returned to Gambia on Wednesday and accused dissidents backed by foreign powers of mounting an attack on the capital the day before. While gunfire around the presidential palace early Tuesday suggested a coup attempt, Mr. Jammeh dismissed such talk, saying Gambia had been attacked by dissidents based in the United States, Germany and Britain. “It was an attack by terrorist groups backed by some foreign powers which I will not name now,” he said on state television. Diplomats monitoring the country, one of the most secretive in West Africa, warned of the possibility of a crackdown on those accused of having links to the attack. At issue was whether Mr. Jammeh, who was visiting Dubai when the attack occurred, “can be seen to be calm and in control without it getting too bloody,” one Western diplomat said. The diplomat said that four attackers were reported killed and four others injured in clashes and that most were believed to be former members of the Gambian military. Mr. Jammeh, 49, took power in a coup 20 years ago and since then has stifled dissent in this impoverished West African nation. He has faced increasing criticism from abroad over issues ranging from human rights to his claim he can cure AIDS. |