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Newfy
Western Samoa
462 Posts |
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kayjatta
2978 Posts |
 Posted - 15 May 2006 : 19:04:32
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SOS Hydara made a great speech, and I mostly agree with him except that he addressed the wrong audience. His speech should have been directed at Jammeh and the APRC who came to power through a military coup and continues to rule by terror.
I am really wondering when Jammeh and Hydara came to realize that a coup is wrong and dangerous to a nation ? Jammeh is a coupist, and does he still believe in his two classes of coups ? |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 01:30:07
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| Fafa Mbye, Pap Cheyassin Secka, Mrs. Fatoumata Boum Bensouda, etc were there before and being politically manipulated and having exploited their legal expertised which they consented to by accepting and compromised their integrity and self-esteem to be used for selfish reasons were later fired. Don't worry then with SOS Hydara with his political role for the term he is serving a criminal indicted for treason, assasinations, murders and corruptions to the highest degree. |
Edited by - kobo on 16 May 2006 01:31:04 |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 08:54:38
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Just picked thi information and herewith attached
Gambia: President Jammeh's Links to International Crime
The Gambia Journal (Banjul)
May 14, 2006
Posted to the web May 15, 2006
Mbaye B. Sarr & Mohammed L. Sillah
Part 1 of 3
As the Gambia Journal continues with its series of investigative reports on the suspected corrupt deals by the Jammeh regime, we, in this article, expose some of President Jammeh's most hair-raising connections with a motley crowd of hustlers, mobsters, ultra-conservative Republican Party politicians, and notorious criminal arms and diamond dealers.
Some time in 1998 the then OAU was having a special Libyan-sponsored Summit in the Gabonese capital. President Jammeh was invited but could not attend. Relations between Jammeh and the Libyan leader had soured, and perhaps because of this, Jammeh who relishes such gatherings, for once stayed away. Instead he sent his Vice President Aja Isatou Njie Saidy who flew in with a Soviet-made passenger plane of then unclear ownership but managed by the now defunct Banjul-registered New Millennium Airlines. When a little later, the then Central African President Lissouba arrived at the same Airport, he was being congratulated by his host, Gabonese President Omar Bongo. At first the Central African leader looked dazed at his host's congratulatory remarks, not knowing what Mr. Bongo might be referring to. Noticing his guest's apparent bewilderment, the Gabonese President pointed to the New Millennium Aircraft on the airport tarmac that he mistakenly thought brought President Lissouba to the summit.
Mr. Lissouba looked at the aircraft and was aghast to see that the aircraft indeed carried the flag and seal of the Central African Republic. He flew in to a rage when he got to know that the plane in fact flew in with the Gambian delegates headed by Vice President Aja Isatou Njie-Saidy. Mr. Lissouba wanted to seize hold of the plane there and then. It was only the diplomatic intervention of President Bongo that saved the plane from being impounded.
The aircraft had had a nebulous history. Before being registered in The Gambia as the IL-62 (C5-GNM) [Gambia], it had been CCCP-86511 [USSR], RA-86511 [Russia], 3D-RTI [Swaziland], and finally, TL-ACL [Central African Republic]). In the Central Africa Republic it had been used to supply weapons to Savimbi's rebel army, then active in Angola, and combatants fighting in the nonsense civil wars that then raged in Liberia and Sierra Leone, returning with precious but illegal gems of diamonds for the lucrative international market. The aircraft and its owner, Mr. Victor Bout, have become the ultimate icons of what has become known as the internationally deplored "Blood Diamonds" affairs.
When pressures for the arrest of Mr. Bout became unbearable and an international arrest warrant was issued by the UN system, Mr. Bout escaped from Bangui, capital city of the Central African Republic and went into hiding. The elusive Mr. Bout demonstrated his capacity to escape justice and his versatile capacity to seek refuge in failed or rogue states, beyond the arms length of international justice. Viktor Vasilevich (aka Anatoliyevich) Bout is a Russian and former flight lieutenant of the Soviet Army. He is known to have carried several different passports, including various Liberian diplomatic ones, two Russian and one Ukrainian. He goes around with different names, including Viktor Bout, Butt, Bont, Butte, Boutov, and Vitali Sergitov, born January 13, 1967 and January 13, 1970.
Jammeh is also believed by many to be deeply involved in the drug business. Jammeh has many times publicly referred to his "endless private wealth." Several years after taking over power, a record catch of heroin was discovered in a container destined for the Gambia but captured in a Mauritanian port by DEA agents. Several years ago another container loaded with cocaine and imported in by a well-known Lebanese businessman was discovered by unknowing Gambian customs officials at the Port of Banjul, only to be released quietly.
It is not yet clear how Mr. Bout came into contact with President Jammeh and his former leading henchman Baba Jobe in the first place, but a document that the Gambia Journal is in possession of reads: "since the small narrow West African country has become a central base of operations for notorious Russian international arms smuggler Viktor Bout. The Gambia is the headquarters for one of many of Bout's front companies, companies that are used to smuggle everything from weapons to diamonds and mercenaries to international relief supplies. In fact, Bout was the character on whom fictional arms smuggler Yuri Orlov, played by Nicolas Cage in the movie Lord of War, was largely based."
The document writes that Victor Bout was former Liberian war lord and President, Charles Taylor's primary arms and diamond smuggler. Bout and his associates were given Liberian diplomatic passports and, with Taylor's blessing and protection, they registered a number of their front companies in Monrovia, the Liberian capital. Perhaps this was how the connection was established. Baba Jobe was close to a number of Gambian mercenaries fighting on Taylor's side during the Liberia's fourteen year civil war. In his hey days as a strongman in the Jammeh regime, Mr. Jobe did travel frequently to Monrovia. A close relative of his was Liberia's ambassador to Libya and another was Taylor's chief body-guard. This belief is strengthened all the more by the fact that once the New Millennium Airlines Ltd. Was registered in Banjul, with headquarters at Sate House, Baba Jobe was made the Managing Director. The company's only plane ran both as a passenger plane taking pilgrims to Mecca and a pr esidential aircraft carrying Jammeh on his many shuttles. According to a commercial aviation database, "the firm acted as a cover for Victor Bout's operations. Its one aircraft, a Russian-made passenger jet, was acquired from Central African Airlines."
For two consecutive years from 2002, Jobe placed an effective ban on other private pilgrim carriers to impose a sort of a monopoly for the lucrative business of taking pilgrims to Mecca for the annual Hajj. At around the end of that same year, a UN Panel of Experts investigating the blood diamond affairs in Liberia and Sierra Leone recommended that Baba Jobe, his New Millennium Airlines company itself, Mr. Bout, the former Liberian President on a list of people whose assets were frozen and who were banned from traveling. Jammeh had his Ambassador at the United Nations as well as his Secretary of State for External Affairs fight tooth and nail to have Mr. Jobe expunged from that list without any success. Again in November 30th 2005, even with Mr. Jobe incarcerated by his former boss in Banjul, a United Nations Report on blood diamonds mentioned Bout's New Millennium Airlines and Baba Jobe, personally.
As the trial of Charles Taylor on war crimes starts unfolding, Gambian observers are holding their breath in anticipation of what Mr. Taylor may divulge on his dealings with President Jammeh. Their lines have crossed too many times for observers not to believe so. It was not only Bout's connections that the two West African "leaders" shared. Taylor was known to be a business partner with Christian Coalition founder Pat Robertson. Robertson's organization mentored Richard Hines. Mr. Hines was in 2004 hired as President Jammeh's lobbyist for US$300 000 annually to help brush up Gambia's international image. More on this on part two of this investigative report.
Relevant Links
West Africa
Crime and Corruption
Gambia
Source: Allafrica.com |
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sab
United Kingdom
912 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 10:03:00
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Greetings Kobo, I also read this yesterday, I do not believe this one could have been made up with all the twists & turns!
I know your not for reading, but I picked up the book 'blood diamonds' or 'black diamonds' at Sabena Juntion few weeks back and decided it was too much money. Along with the Taylor trial I expect the weaving in & out will bring many known & unknown names to the fore!
sab |
The world would be a poorer place if it was peopled by children whose parents risked nothing in the cause of social justice, for fear of personal loss. (Joe Slovo - African revolutionary) |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 11:54:32
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quote:
Originally posted by sab
Greetings Kobo, I also read this yesterday, I do not believe this one could have been made up with all the twists & turns!
I know your not for reading, but I picked up the book 'blood diamonds' or 'black diamonds' at Sabena Juntion few weeks back and decided it was too much money. Along with the Taylor trial I expect the weaving in & out will bring many known & unknown names to the fore!
sab
Sab I do enjoy seeing you disco dancing and always seems happy and interesting. You are going by "Don't worry be happy!" if I see your features i.e avatar and postings. Thanks with your lively mood. Keep on rocking! "chei teh mu neh", "Enfanaa abi dooring koh noh" |
Edited by - kobo on 16 May 2006 12:05:25 |
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bantaba
Switzerland
61 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 17:17:45
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| Jammeh is now multimillionaire, an individual who had few cloths to wear before being president. To a person who can now afford to buy anything that his heart desire. It is very difficult to phantom how Yaya became a millionaire without being involved in some kind of dubious affairs. Let’s say that his presidential salary is D150, 000 a month, which is about $6,000 a month. So in 11 years of being a president he would have made about $792,000, maybe a bonus of about $100,000. The total will be about $892,000, but if he is an honest and accountable person has he claimed to be we need to subtract some income from the total of $892,000. For instance taxes and his personal expenses have to be subtracted. The development and up-keeping of his farm and houses in Kanilia should have all come from his earned income. My conclusion is that Yaya cannot be a multimillionaire without having his hands smeared in un-washable dirt of corruption. Maybe Allah is directly depositing millions of Dalasis into Yaya bank account because he has been such firm believer and a person of pure heart and character. Perhaps we should all be like Yaya if we want Allah's bank to deposit some needed cash into our account. A through and unbiased investigation will surly conclude that dark and mysterious forces are behind yaya's instant wealth. |
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kondorong
Gambia
4380 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 18:47:17
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quote:
Originally posted by bantaba
Jammeh is now multimillionaire, an individual who had few cloths to wear before being president. To a person who can now afford to buy anything that his heart desire. It is very difficult to phantom how Yaya became a millionaire without being involved in some kind of dubious affairs. Let’s say that his presidential salary is D150, 000 a month, which is about $6,000 a month. So in 11 years of being a president he would have made about $792,000, maybe a bonus of about $100,000. The total will be about $892,000, but if he is an honest and accountable person has he claimed to be we need to subtract some income from the total of $892,000. For instance taxes and his personal expenses have to be subtracted. The development and up-keeping of his farm and houses in Kanilia should have all come from his earned income. My conclusion is that Yaya cannot be a multimillionaire without having his hands smeared in un-washable dirt of corruption. Maybe Allah is directly depositing millions of Dalasis into Yaya bank account because he has been such firm believer and a person of pure heart and character. Perhaps we should all be like Yaya if we want Allah's bank to deposit some needed cash into our account. A through and unbiased investigation will surly conclude that dark and mysterious forces are behind yaya's instant wealth.
Unless there was a sudden increase, the salary of the president five years ago was $1000.00 per month wich in twelve yaers since he came to power is 1000x12x12 =$144,000.00. The guy has not earned $200,0000.00 yet if we go by what he is lawfully entitled to. He bought 27 vehicles "from his personal contribution" to the security forces with an average cost of say 250,000.00 to give him a good balance on his accounts. This is equal to 250000.00x27 =D6,750,000.00 =$854,430.00. This is four times his income for the twelve years he has been in power. The cost of the vehicles would have taken him 48 years salary as president.
In addition for the last 12 years, he has taken 1200 pilgrims to mecca for the HAjj. The tickets alone have averaged $2500.00 x1200=$300,000.00 not counting their pocket money. This amount is equal to D83,million.
I dont need to go further otherwise i will look foolish. This is just the tip of the iceberg. NO WONDER HE TOLD ALL OF US ON NATIONAL TELEVISION THAT EVEN HIS GRAND CHILDREN WILL NEVER BE POOR. PLEASE NOTE THAT HIS ONLY DAUGHTER IS LESS THAN TEN YEARS OLD AND HAS NOT COME OF AGE TO ENTER IN TO MATRIMONY. |
“When I despair, I remember that all through history the way of truth and love have always won. There have been tyrants and murderers, and for a time, they can seem invincible, but in the end, they always fall. Think of it--always.” |
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sab
United Kingdom
912 Posts |
Posted - 16 May 2006 : 19:52:31
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Greetings Kobo, I just wish that your view of the avatar that I use of Ken Saro-Wiwa was anything like ‘the disco’ dream.
In fact this picture is of him calling to the Ogoni People (MOSOP) to unite against the Nigerian government & Shell.
Ken Saro-Wiwa founded the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People in 1990, he saw it as a vehicle to “mobilize the Ogoni people and empower them to protest against the devastation of their environment by Shell, and their denigration and dehumanisation by Nigeria’s military dictators.”
He had modest expectations of what he conceived as a non-violent, grass roots organization, but MOSOP caught the popular imagination that 300,000 of Ogoni people, three out of every five, came out in support of the aims and ideals of the movement during a protest march January 1993.
That day, in what was a peaceful demonstration, the Ogoni declared Shell persona non grata until it paid back rents and cleaned up the environment.
A people who had a reputation for being lazy and docile had rediscovered its voice – Ken Saro-Wiwa.
May 94 four chiefs, & Ken’s brother-in-law were brutally murdered during a riot in Ogoni. That night, Ken Saro-Wiwa was arrested at his home in Port Harcourt. Military blamed the riot and murders on MOSOP. Hundreds of activists were hunted and rounded up. Ken Sawo-Wiwa was detained without charge for nine months. He was chained, routinely tortured, and denied access to his family, his doctor and a lawyer.
He was charged in Jan 95, arraigned before a military tribunal and accused of inciting the youth wing of MOSOP to eliminate the four chiefs, including his own brother-in-law.
Oct 95, with months after the trial began, he was sentenced along with eight other Ogoni men to death, Ten days later the nine men were hanged.
This had world wide media attention – a Commonwealth Summit was taking place and everyone thought that Nelson Mandela & Wole Soyinka would be able to save their lives. But unfortunately Nelson Mandela insisted that “ quiet diplomacy” would save them.
History shows that the Abacha regime had other ideas.
Written from prison to his son;
A year has gone by since I was rudely roused from my bed and clamped into detention. Sixty-five days in chains, weeks of starvation, months of mental torture and recently, the rides in a steaming, airless Black Maria to appear before a kangaroo court, dubbed a special military tribunal, where the proceedings leave no doubt that the judgement has been written in advance...The men who ordain nd supervise this show of shame, this tragic charade, are frightened by the word, the power of ideas, the power of the pen; by demands of social justice and the rights of man. Nor do they have a sense of history. They are so scared of the power of the word, that they do not read. And that is their funeral.
KEN SARO-WIWA.
Ken Saro-Wiwa – One of Nigerias best-loved writers and an outspoken critic of military rule, he was a prime mover in bringing the human rights abuses in Nigeria to the attention of the world.
I feel a little better now...sab www.remembersarowiwa.com
History shows that penalties do not deter men when their conscience is aroused / mandela...... |
The world would be a poorer place if it was peopled by children whose parents risked nothing in the cause of social justice, for fear of personal loss. (Joe Slovo - African revolutionary) |
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kobo
United Kingdom
7765 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2006 : 00:54:49
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Sab thanks once again for enlightening me. I pay tribute to one of the greatest sons of Africa, Ken Saro-Wiwa who sacrifice his life in the struggle for justice and power to the people. May his soul R.I.P, as he accomplished matyrdom for a noble cause. I am not familiar with him and don't read a lot of literatures or books. Those statements were made to imply how I do enjoy seeing your avatar and the interesting articles. Any mis-statements or expensive jokes is deeply regreted. However these jokes made us receive the best of gifts and your treasures from your archives. Thanks Sab for a wonderful job and your tireless efforts to help us receive "the message" that we need to make us politically conscious and ready with high spirits on the struggle to defend justice and democracy.
Politics is not my dormain but am compelled to participate for being very worried with the system in the motherland. We need genuine leaders like him today at home but the power struuggle amongst other things is our problem. POWER TO THE PEOPLE.
Sab, it is noteworthy to compliment you that you have shown high level of maturity, soberness, good spirit by demonstating a classic example on "what is positive thinking?". Your reactions on a "foolish joke" and "crowning it with jewels" i.e the precious article posted and selecting one of your best souvenir and source of inspiration in return to educate and settle down matters. Thats really one step ahead and we need such articulate exercises in this foraa!
God bless Sab! |
Edited by - kobo on 17 May 2006 02:28:44 |
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sab
United Kingdom
912 Posts |
Posted - 17 May 2006 : 09:24:37
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Greetings; It will be the young who will bring down the towers of oppression - anywhere.
kind regards,sab |
The world would be a poorer place if it was peopled by children whose parents risked nothing in the cause of social justice, for fear of personal loss. (Joe Slovo - African revolutionary) |
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