Day 4 of the standoff

Commissioner of Police, North Bank 

Everything appears to be quite on the Western Front, as the saying goes.  But is it the calm before the storm?  Or will Jammeh be true to his word by ensuring that safe passage is granted to Ousainou Darboe and his UDP entourage to continue on their tour of the country?

In as much as we'd like to see a peaceful resolution of an otherwise avoidable standoff caused by the extremely repressive regime, we must also be realistic enough to move with cautious optimism in dealing with a high unreliable and deceptive character in Jammeh.

Why decide to reverse an earlier decision to issue a permit to enable the UDP to use a PA system? Why wait until Monday for a simple permit to be issued when it could have been issued instantaneously and on site?  These must be some questions presently preoccupying the minds of those on the ground as we move into Day 4 of the standoff.

Vigilance is the name of the game.  Jammeh has something up his sleeves as we blogged yesterday.