$11m Missing From The Gambia's State Coffers After Jammeh Exile

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More than $11m (£8.8m) is missing from The Gambia's state coffers following the departure of long-time leader Yahya Jammeh, an adviser to President Adama Barrow has said. Mai Ahmad Fatty said financial experts were trying to evaluate the exact loss. Luxury cars and other items were reportedly loaded on to a Chadian cargo plane as Mr Jammeh left the country. Mr Jammeh has not commented and the BBC has not independently verified the claims. After 22 years in power, Mr Jammeh flew into exile on Saturday. He had refused to accept election results but finally left after mediation by regional leaders and the threat of military intervention. President Barrow remains in neighbouring Senegal and it is not clear when he will return. However, West African troops entered the Gambian capital, Banjul, on Sunday to prepare for his arrival. Cheering crowds gathered outside the State House to watch soldiers secure the building. The Senegalese general leading the joint force from five African nations said they were controlling "strategic points to ensure the safety of the population and facilitate... Mr Barrow's assumption of his role". Mr Fatty told reporters in the Senegalese capital Dakar that The Gambia was in financial distress. "The coffers are virtually empty," he said. "It has been confirmed by technicians in the ministry of finance and the Central Bank of the Gambia." He said Mr Jammeh had made off with more than $11m in the past two weeks alone. Mr Fatty said officials at The Gambia's main airport had been told not to let any of Mr Jammeh's belongings leave the country. Reports said some of the former leader's goods were in Guinea where Mr Jammeh had stopped on his journey into exile. Mr Jammeh is reported to now be in Equatorial Guinea, although authorities there have not confirmed it. The former leader had initially accepted Mr Barrow's election win on 1 December, but later alleged "irregularities" and called for a fresh vote. The move was internationally condemned and the UN-backed Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) issued an ultimatum for him to quit or be removed by force. Source: BBC

Jammeh Offered Final Chance For Peaceful Exit

NEWSTHE GAMBIA1 HOUR AGO

Leader of 22 years requests four-hour extension of deadline given by West African bloc to cede ahead of intervention.

West African leaders gave Yahya Jammeh, who lost elections last month, until midday on Friday to hand over power and agree to leave The Gambia or face military action carried out by the regional bloc ECOWAS.

Later however, Jammeh requested a four-extension until 4pm local time to cede, government sources said, according to the Reuters news agency.

It was not clear what he planned to do, though diplomats said his departure looked increasingly possible.

The leaders of Guinea and Mauritania headed for The Gambia on Friday for talks with Jammeh.

Exclusive: Al Jazeera interviews Gambia’s new president Adama Barrow

West African troops entered the country to bolster new President Adama Barrow - who was sworn-in on Thursday - but military operations were suspended a few hours later in favour of a final diplomatic push to convince Jammeh, who has stubbornly refused to quit, to exit peacefully.

In his first media interview with Al Jazeera, Barrow urges Jammeh to leave the country and hopes that the 15 ECOWAS countries can find him a safe haven.

"We cannot allow Yahya Jammeh to remain in the Gambia, it will make our job difficult. That's why all our negotiations is he leave Gambia, he can later come back. But as of now the political climate doesn't allow that."

"I advise him in good faith to give peace a chance. It is about democracy."

Adama Barrow sworn in as Gambia's president in Senegal

Gambia's only land border is with Senegal and the regional coalition, which ECOWAS says involves 7,000 troops, has entered from the southeast, southwest and north.

Jammeh started negotiations with ECOWAS on Thursday and agreed to step down. He demanded, however, an amnesty for any crimes that he may have committed during his 22 years in power and that he be permitted to stay in The Gambia, at his home village of Kanilai.

Those demands are not acceptable to ECOWAS, said Marcel Alain de Souza, head ECOWAS. Jammeh's continued presence in The Gambia would "create disturbances to public order and terrorist movements"," he said.

Gambia: Military threat looms as Jammeh clings to power

Support for the long-ruling leader has been crumbling. The army chief joined ordinary citizens celebrating in the streets on Thursday seven weeks after contested polls.

"Diplomacy is a long road - it always has been and always will be - so every opportunity to find a resolution is the best means possible for the region," Robin Sanders, a former US ambassador to ECOWAS, told Al Jazeera. 

"The last thing that West Africa needs is another conflict." 

While there has been talk that a deal may include an amnesty for Jammeh, whose regime has been accused of various human rights abuses, Sanders said that this would set a bad precedent. 

"Also in this case, I am not in the camp of complete amnesty because what you do is signal additional impunity going forward with other leaders, not only just in the continent but across the world," she said.

READ MORE: Gambia - Four ministers resign from Jammeh government

Barrow was sworn in at The Gambia's embassy in Dakar, in neighbouring Senegal, on Thursday.

Celebrations erupted in Banjul, meanwhile, where tensions have run high over the crisis, especially since the declaration of a state of emergency by Jammeh made on Tuesday.

Barrow, a real-estate agent turned politician, had flown into Senegal on January 15 to seek shelter after weeks of rising tension over Jammeh's stance.

At least 46,000 people have fled The Gambia for Senegal since the start of the crisis fearing unrest, the UN's refugee agency UNHCR said on Friday, citing Senegalese government figures.

Inside Story - Can a showdown be averted in Gambia?

Source: Al Jazeera and news agencies

Military The Gambia Politics Africa

More Than 45,000 Have Fled The Gambia This Month: UN

AFPJanuary 20, 2017

A supporter of Gambia's president-elect Adama Barrow pictured outside of the Gambian Embassy in Senegal's capital Dakar on January 19, 2017, ahead of Barrow's inauguration (AFP Photo/SEYLLOU)

Geneva (AFP) - More than 45,000 people have fled a political crisis in The Gambia this month, the United Nations said Friday, as veteran leader Yahya Jammeh faced a midday deadline to leave office.

"Around 45,000 people are now reported to have arrived in Senegal from The Gambia... amid the ongoing political uncertainty as Senegalese and West African troops entered the country on Thursday," the UN refugee agency said in Geneva.

"It is feared that more people may continue to flee as the situation remains tense," UNHCR said, adding that another "800 people have crossed into Guinea-Bissau."

The UN agency noted that arrivals in Senegal have included "Gambians, Senegalese, bi-nationals, as well as Ghanaians, Liberians, Lebanese, Guineans, and Mauritanians among other foreigners."

Jammeh, who has been in power more than 20 years, lost elections last month to Adama Barrow but has refused to stand down.

Soldiers from Senegal and four other west African countries have crossed into The Gambia to bolster Barrow, who has been sworn in at the country's embassy in Dakar.

West African leaders have said regional forces would intervene with force if Jammeh refused to stand down.
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