#Article (Archive)

‘There was no deal between Jammeh and Barrow’

Jan 23, 2017, 10:48 AM

Mai Fatty, a leading member of the Coalition, has said there was no purported “terms and conditions of agreement” made with former President Yahya Jammeh for him to exit the country.

In a newscast by state-owned Radio Gambia, Mr Fatty said: “There was no deal signed. What is being circulated was a draft jointly prepared by the presidents of Guinea Conakry and Mauritania. President Barrow received the same draft Saturday afternoon, and rejected it outright.”

Fatty, a lawyer by profession, further clarified that both the president of ECOWAS Commission Marcel Desouza, and a Qatari envoy met with them on the matter.

“We said to them ‘our position remains the same’,” Mr Fatty explained, adding that “President Barrow then subsequently requested resumption of military action immediately to arrest Jammeh, if he refuses to depart.”

“It was after President Barrow insisted that Jammeh will not spend Saturday night in the country that Jammeh agreed to depart.”

My Fatty further said that a few minutes after Jammeh’s departure, President Barrow authorised the temporary closure of Gambia’s airspace, to prevent the landing of a purported commercial cargo plane intended to airlift vehicles and luxurious belongings of Jammeh.