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| Obama and Sall at June 2013 visit to Dakar |
The Daily Observer is quoting from what it claims is from "the full text of the intelligence pact" between the FBI, CIA and Senegal which oddly says that "[a]fter denying any role in the apparent coup attempt". The pact, the paper claims, is to allow the sharing and safeguarding intelligence on The Gambia.
The new intelligence pact between the United States and Senegal is normal under the scheme of things between two friendly countries. To link, an otherwise routine pact between two friends, to the "apparent coup attempt" of 30 December 2014, is an attempt, by a desperate and embattled regime, to play victim in a lame attempt to win sympathy within the immediate ECOWAS region.
Africa in general, and the West and Central Africa region in particular have become a hub for global crude oil theft and also for money laundering, illegal arms and drug trafficking, human smuggling, environmental crimes, dumping of toxic waste and maritime terrorism. In response to this growing menace that threatens not only global security but also the economic development of the West, Central and Gulf of Guinea countries.
It is a result of the security threats posed to the region that culminated in last June's Yaounde Head of State Summit, attended by Vice President Njie-Saidy representing the Gambian dictator. The Summit ratified a Memorandum of Understanding and also adopted a Code of Conduct of the Prevention and Suppression of Acts of Privacy and Armed Robbery against ships and other criminal activities in the high seas, initialed by Njie-Saidy but Jammeh instructed his National Assembly to deny ratification. He also refused to collaborate on similar bilateral cooperation Agreement. Yet, here is Jammeh accusing Senegal, FBI and CIA of ganging up on him.
Yaya Jammeh's recent belligerent behavior towards Senegal, aggravated in the past weeks by the 30 December events, is driven in part, by what he sees as President Macky Sall's tacit support of the Gambia dissidents seeking refuge in the capital city of Dakar signified by his refusal to deliver Gambian dissidents to the Gambian authorities where most will face life or death sentences.
The Gambian dictator fails to realize that Senegal is a democracy where the rule of law prevails. Senegal's Supreme Court ruling staying execution of the deportation order of Sedia Bayo to France, a ferocious opponent of Jammeh, will be seen as further proof of Senegal's support of the regime's opponents rather than as an illustration of how the separation of powers functions under a truly democratic country.
