Gambia’s defeated President Yahya Jammeh must cede power by noon on Friday or he will be dislodged by a regional force that has already moved into the country, West African officials said.
If Mr. Jammeh refuses to leave Gambia by midday the regional troops will force him out, said Marcel Alain de Souza, chairman of the West African regional bloc, ECOWAS.
The West African regional force including tanks moved into Gambia on Thursday evening and has met no resistance, said Mr. de Souza. The regional force, including troops from Senegal, Ghana, Nigeria, Togo and Mali, charged into Gambia after the inauguration of Adama Barrow as the country’s new president and the U.N. Security Council voted to approve the regional military intervention.
Mr. Barrow, who won Gambia’s presidential election in December, was sworn into office at the Gambian embassy in neighboring Senegal, where he is for his safety.
Senegalese military spokesman Col. Abdoul Ndiaye confirmed on Friday that the regional force had would give Mr. Jammeh until midday to step down but then would resume their mandate to force him from power. Mr. Jammeh remains in the official residence, State House, in Gambia’s capital, Banjul.
Guinean President Alpha Conde will fly to Banjul to negotiate with Mr. Jammeh, said Mr. de Souza. Mr. Conde will go to Gambia after first going to Mauritania, said Mr. de Souza. Mauritania has been mentioned as a possible country where Mr. Jammeh could go into exile.
Mr. Conde will offer Mr. Jammeh the chance to step down peacefully, said Mr. de Souza.
Mr. Jammeh “has the choice of going with President Alpha Conde,” said Mr. de Souza. “If, at 12 o’clock, he does not make up his mind, we will bring him by force or by will. Our troops will advance on Banjul. Until the last minute, we still think there is a solution resulting from a dialogue.”
Mr. Jammeh started negotiations with ECOWAS on Thursday and agreed to step down but demanded an amnesty for any crimes that he may have committed during his 22 years in power and that he be permitted to stay in Gambia, at his home village of Kanilai, said Mr. de Souza. Those demands are not acceptable to ECOWAS, said Mr. de Souza. Mr. Jammeh’s continued presence in Gambia would “create disturbances to public order and terrorist movements,” said Mr. de Souza. ECOWAS wants newly inaugurated President Adama Barrow to take power in Gambia without any security threats, said Mr. de Souza.
Mr. Barrow, in his inaugural speech, which took place under heavy security, Mr. Barrow called on Mr. Jammeh to respect the will of the people and step aside. The new president also called on Gambia’s armed forces to remain in their barracks as the regional military intervention got underway.
Shortly after the inauguration, the U.N. Security Council unanimously approved a resolution expressing “full support” to Mr. Barrow, calling on Mr. Jammeh to step down and condemning his attempts to usurp power. The resolution also backed the regional efforts to get Mr. Jammeh to respect the election results.
It is not certain that Gambia’s army, estimated to be smaller than 2,000 troops, will fight to keep Mr. Jammeh in power. Soldiers with close knowledge of the situation said several barracks had indicated they would support Mr. Barrow. The soldiers spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorised to speak to reporters.
African nations began stepping away from Mr. Jammeh, with Botswana announcing it no longer recognized him as Gambia’s president. The African Union earlier announced that the continental body would no longer recognise Mr. Jammeh once his mandate expired.
Thousands have fled Gambia in recent days, including a number of former cabinet ministers who resigned. It is estimated that a few thousand international tourists are still in Gambia and efforts continue to evacuate them from the country.
