GAMBIA: Military push on hold as final talks with Jammeh hold Friday

Disgraced former President Yahya Jammeh has one more chance to prevent bloodshed and avoid a violent removal from office.

With troops already on ground inside The Gambia, reports say that a last ditch attempt is being made to have Jammeh relinquish authority peacefully.

Peace talks are said to be holding Friday morning and it is being led by Guinean president Alpha Condé in Banjul. This much was conveyed by Marcel Alain de Souza, head of the Economic Community of West African States on Thursday.

However, there are indications that Jammeh’s illegal stay in power will not last beyond Friday. “If by midday, he doesn’t agree to leave The Gambia under the banner of President Condé, we really will intervene militarily,” Souza is quoted to have said.

The world has practically turned its back on Jammeh with the latest being the UN which through a resolution on Thursday backed military intervention in The Gambia if Jammeh failed to quit peacefully.

Meanwhile, The Gambia has a new president in Adama Barrow who was sworn-in Thursday on the grounds of the country’s embassy in Dakar, Senegal.

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