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New Gambia Leader to Set Up Truth Commission; Defeated Leader to Leave

by Associated Press

   DAKAR, SENEGAL --

   Gambia's new president Adama Barrow said Saturday that he will launch a
   truth and reconciliation commission to investigate the alleged human
   rights abuses of Yahya Jammeh's 22-year regime.

   In an interview with The Associated Press just hours after Jammeh
   finally acquiesced to political exile, Barrow, 51, said it is too soon
   to tell whether the former president could face trial at the
   International Criminal Court or elsewhere.

   "We aren't talking about prosecution here. We are talking about getting
   a truth and reconciliation commission," he said. "Before you can act,
   you have to get the truth, to get the facts together."

   Gambia's defeated leader Yahya Jammeh was expected to leave for Guinea
   on Saturday evening.

   In this image taken from TV, Gambia's longtime leader Yahya Jammeh
   appears on state TV to give a brief statement agreeing to step down
   from office, in Banjul, Gambia, in the early hours of Jan. 21, 2017.

   "It is not yet confirmed information, but reliable sources say he'll be
   leaving today," Barrow told the AP. "We believe he'll go to Guinea, but
   we are yet to confirm 100 percent, but that's what we believe."

   A visibly tired Adama Barrow told The Associated Press in an interview
   Saturday that he will enter Gambia once a security sweep has been
   completed. He has been in neighboring Senegal for his safety during a
   political standoff that came to the brink of a regional military
   intervention.

   The exact terms of Jammeh's departure remained under wraps Saturday
   apart from his destination: Guinea.

   "What is fundamental here is he will live in a foreign country as of
   now," said Barrow, visibly tired and wearing a powder blue traditional
   West African boubou robe and white leather slip-on shoes.

   It's been a chaotic and tragic week for the new Gambian leader, who is
   being protected by heavily armed guards at a private residence in an
   upscale Dakar neighborhood equipped with its own metal detector.

   A funeral was held Monday for Barrow's 7-year-old son, Habib, who was
   fatally mauled by a dog. Barrow did not attend because he was advised
   not to return to Banjul for fear that the Jammeh regime would threaten
   him. On Thursday, Barrow, a former businessman and real estate
   developer, was sworn into office at the Gambian Embassy in Dakar as
   hundreds of exiled Gambians cheered and waved flags outside.

   In his inaugural address, Barrow vowed "a new start" for Gambia
   promised to expand the country's democratic gains. Although officially
   elected to a five-year term, Barrow has said would serve only three
   years with a goal of repairing Gambia's democracy before making the way
   for new leadership. That is in pointed contrast to Jammeh's long rule,
   and the many other African leaders who stay in office for lengthy
   periods.

   Barrow also has said he would prioritize reviving the stagnant economy
   of the tiny West African country, which has a population of 1.9
   million. He also said he would improve Gambia's relationships with the
   international community, rejoin the Commonwealth of former
   British-ruled states and the International Criminal Court.

   Barrow has stayed in Senegal throughout the prolonged negotiations
   needed to arrange Jammeh's departure. He attended Friday prayers at a
   mosque with Senegalese President Macky Sall.

   The fears for Barrow's security were because Jammeh has long been
   accused by human rights groups of heading a government that tortured
   opponents and silenced dissent. Many Gambians have been arbitrarily
   detained for years, often without access to family members or lawyers.
   Some people have effectively disappeared, but families cling to hope
   that they may still be alive, say human rights activists.

   Senegal has welcomed tens of thousands of fleeing Gambians over the
   years. Barrow has vowed to free all political prisoners and is urging
   those here in Dakar and elsewhere to return to Gambia and help him
   reform the country long beset by dictatorship and corruption.

   He already has issued a message that "the rule of fear has been
   vanished from the Gambia for good."

   "Today is a very, very important day for Gambia," he said Saturday.
   "Twenty-two years is a long period, and Gambians this time they are
   united to make this change."