Gambia’s Outgoing Leader Has Until Noon Friday to Cede Power, ECOWAS Says

Gambia’s outgoing president Yahya Jammeh has until noon on Friday to cede power, otherwise the Economic Community Of West African States (ECOWAS) military intervention in the country will continue, Voice of America correspondent Steve Herman reports.

BAMAKO (Sputnik) – Senegal army representative Col. Abdou Ndiaye told Sputnik that an ECOWAS-backed military intervention in Gambia started on Thursday in order to ensure the safety of president-elect Adama Barrow.

Steve Herman wrote on Twitter late on Thursday night that ECOWAS halted its operation, but said that if Jammeh did not cede power until noon on Friday, the operation, which involves 7,000 troops, would resume.

According to Ndiaye, servicemen taking part in the ECOWAS "Restore Democracy" military operation in Gambia were striking military targets and were not meeting any resistance on Thursday.

On Thursday, Adama Barrow was sworn in as Gambia’s new president at the country's embassy in neighboring Senegal, while Yahya Jammeh continued to refuse to step down.

Ndiaye told Sputnik that if Yahya Jammeh does not accept a peaceful resolution of the situation, he will be isolated forcefully along with all the military formations that support him.

The Gambian presidential election was held on December 1, 2016. On December 10, Jammeh rejected the outcome of the election and filed a petition to the Supreme Court, refusing to step down until the court hears his case. He claimed the country faced foreign interference and declared a state of emergency while the Gambian parliament extended his term for 90 days.

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