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Showing posts from January, 2015

Gambian government statement on the events of 30 December - code name of President, Sheikh, Professor, Alhaji, Dr Yahya AJJ Jammeh was 'Chuck'

GOVERNMENT STATEMENT ON THE TERRORIST ATTACK OF 30 TH DECEMBER, 2014 On Tuesday, 30 th December, 2014, at 2am GMT, the State House was attacked by a well-equipped, well-funded group of Gambian terrorists living in the U.S.A., U.K., Germany and Senegal with support from their collaborators abroad with sophisticated automatic machine guns and assault rifles. Five of these attackers launched their assault from the main gate of the State House by the Albert Market while the three others attempted to enter through the rear gate by Marina Parade. The leader of the attackers was Lamin Sanneh (codename ‘Gibia’), a former Lieutenant Colonel of the Gambia Armed Forces and former Commander of the State Guards Battalion who was dismissed from the GAF and fled to Senegal and then to the U.S. He was accompanied by Njaga Jagne (codename ‘Bandit’), a retired Captain of the US Army; Baboucarr Lowe, a former Warrant Officer Class 2 of the Gambia Armed Forces referred to as ‘Bai Lo’ who was wanted in co

A Circus in the Sand

  Books for Peace One of the most magical weeks of my life was the one I spent at the Hargeisa International Book Fair in July 2012. Like many things in Somaliland, I found it delightful, surprising and inspiring, a bit like opening a box of secret treasures. I have chosen to write about the book fair because, in many ways, it represents in microcosm many of the good things about Somaliland. It also shows how challenges can be overcome because the very idea of holding such an event in Somaliland requires courage, imagination and determination. When I wrote a blog post about the fair, a journalist from a respected international publication asked if I was joking, if I had made the whole thing up. For many outsiders, the idea of a book fair on Somali territory is impossible to imagine because for them the word ‘Somali’ is associated with piracy, terrorism, war and famine. Somaliland suffers from a similar image problem; most people don’t know it exists, and have no idea that it is relativ