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Gunfire Reported in Gambia’s Capital While President Is Abroad United States Embassy in Gambia Confirms Coup Attempt
(about 5 hours later)
LONDON — Gunfire broke out overnight in Banjul, the capital of the West African nation of Gambia, residents said, and there were reports on Tuesday that the presidential palace had been attacked. DAKAR, Senegal — Gunfire erupted overnight in Banjul, the capital of the West African nation of Gambia, and residents awoke Tuesday to find government buildings and the main bridge into town sealed off by fidgety soldiers.
President Yahya Jammeh, the autocratic longtime ruler who came to power after a coup in 1994, was out of the country when the shooting happened. Reports over the weekend had quoted state radio as saying he was on a visit to France, but his precise whereabouts remained unknown. French officials were quoted as saying there was no record of his arrival in France. The United States Embassy confirmed an attempted coup, even as the Gambian government issued a vague statement that “peace and calm continue to prevail in the Gambia.”
Gambia, a sliver of land along the Gambia River and one of Africa’s smallest countries, is a former British colony surrounded to the north, south and east by Senegal. Banjul, the island capital, lies on a spit of land at the mouth of the river on the Atlantic coast. Residents said that shooting began at around 1 a.m. near the seat of government. After day broke, most establishments in the island capital remained closed despite regular broadcasts on state-run radio urging businesses to open.
News reports ascribed the gunfire to a coup attempt or a mutiny, possibly involving troops from the presidential guard. Westerners living in Gambia, which juts like a stake into its larger neighbor, Senegal, awoke to emails from their embassies urging them to stay indoors.
Banks and other offices remained closed on Tuesday, Reuters quoted residents as saying, and state radio played traditional music without mentioning the shooting. Troops were said to be blocking a bridge controlling access to the city center. “It seems a coup attempt occurred last night,” Dan Whitman, a spokesman for the United States Embassy in Banjul, wrote in an email. “There has been no sign of transfer of political or military power.”
The authorities, however, denied reports of a coup or mutiny. “Contrary to rumors being circulated, peace and calm continue to prevail in the Gambia,” Kalidu Bayo, the head of the Civil Service, said in a statement quoted by The Associated Press. Gambia’s president, Yahya Jammeh, seized power in a putsch 20 years ago. Since 1994, he has weathered several other attempted coups as his government has grown increasingly autocratic. He is known for his erratic behavior and bizarre pronouncements, including claiming that he had found a cure for AIDS. In 2007, he invited reporters to the presidential palace to show off the treatment, which involved rubbing an herbal mixture that smelled strongly of mint onto the skin of patients with H.I.V.
Agence France-Presse quoted military and diplomatic officials as saying that a coup had been foiled and that three purported conspirators had been killed, including an army deserter said to be the conspirators’ leader. At the same time, Gambia has built a thriving tourism economy. International hotel chains have opened and now dot the country’s white-sand beaches, and European airlines were expected to increase direct flights to Banjul to cater to a growing number of package tours.
Mr. Jammeh has faced increasing criticism from outside his country for running a repressive state. The government’s statement on Tuesday neither confirmed nor denied an attempted coup.
Amnesty International criticized the authorities this year for changing the Constitution to extend maximum jail terms for some categories of homosexuality to life imprisonment from 14 years. “Contrary to rumors being circulated, peace and calm continue to prevail in the Gambia, and the government would like to urge the general public and all businesses to carry on with their normal activities as usual,” a news release issued to the state-run broadcaster said.
The changes came “at a time when the space for free speech in Gambia is rapidly shrinking,” Amnesty International said in a report in November. Sheriff Bojang, the editor of The Standard, an independent newspaper, said that he could not enter Banjul on Tuesday morning “because the road was blocked by soldiers.”
“This is particularly evident in restrictions on the media, where the government controls what is printed and broadcast,” the report said. Reports over the weekend quoted state radio as saying that Mr. Jammeh was on a visit to France, but his precise whereabouts remained unknown. French officials were quoted as saying that there was no record of his arrival in France.
“Human rights defenders, journalists and political activists face harassment, intimidation, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and enforced disappearance,” the report added. “President Jammeh has repeatedly criticized human rights defenders for promoting and protecting the human rights of sexual minorities.” Mr. Jammeh has faced increasing criticism from outside his country for running a repressive state. Amnesty International criticized the authorities this year for changing the Constitution to extend jail terms for some charges of homosexuality to life imprisonment.
The reports of gunfire in Banjul came roughly two months after demonstrators in Burkina Faso took to the streets to protest President Blaise Compaoré's plans to extend his 27 years in office. The uprising forced Mr. Compaoré to flee to Ivory Coast as his government collapsed. Amid the chaos, an army officer, Lt. Col. Isaac Zida, took power. The changes came “at a time when the space for free speech in Gambia is rapidly shrinking,” Amnesty International said in a report in November. “Human rights defenders, journalists and political activists face harassment, intimidation, arbitrary arrest and detention, torture and enforced disappearance,” the report added.
After weeks of political wrangling, Colonel Zida was named prime minister in a transitional government intended to steer the country to elections within a year. Michel Kafando, a civilian who was previously foreign minister and ambassador to the United Nations, was appointed interim president. But for business owners here, the attempted coup came as a shock. Bianca Griffith, a Colorado native who runs a sustainable water treatment company, said she had always viewed the country as peaceful and welcoming to foreign investors.
“Everybody got notices from their embassies about the attempted coup,” Ms. Griffith, 24, who’ also runs a tourist lodge south of Banjul, said by telephone. “And everybody wakes up and goes, ‘Oh my god.'”
She added that the only tension she and others had noted was over the Ebola outbreak in West Africa, which has harmed tourism even though Gambia has had no reported cases.
“The biggest tension here has been Ebola — its economic ramifications — far more than anything political,” Ms. Griffith said.