New Gambian President Set to Return Thursday
Local Editor
President Adama Barrow is set to return to The Gambia Thursday after his predecessor Yahya Jammeh finally quit power under threat of military intervention.
Barrow's aide Mai Fatty confirmed to AFP Wednesday that the new president was preparing to head home from Senegal, where he has been since January 15 fearing for his safety.
"Yes, tomorrow afternoon," Fatty told AFP in Dakar.
A source close to the Senegalese presidency and a diplomatic source in The Gambia's capital Banjul had also confirmed the announcement made on a Facebook page linked to the new president that Barrow was due to arrive Thursday at 4:00 pm.
"Any changes to the above schedule will be communicated," the Facebook statement said.
Barrow won December's election, but for weeks Jammeh refused to step down, setting off a crisis that saw the new president take his oath of office in neighboring Senegal last week.
Jammeh, who had been in power for more than two decades after taking power in a coup, went into exile in Equatorial Guinea at the weekend, under threat of a regional military intervention.
Barrow had put off his return to The Gambia until his safety could be guaranteed by thousands of soldiers from five African nations currently deployed in the tiny nation, but unease had been growing over his prolonged absence.
Marcel Alain De Souza, head of the 15-nation Economic Community of West African States [ECOWAS], told a briefing in Nigeria Tuesday that the troops were working to secure Banjul and the surrounding area for Barrow's return.
Source: News Agencies, Edited by website team
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