Gambia-l, Below is from The Point Newspaper of February 13th 2002: Gambia Not In Blair’s Priority Tour List - John Perrot Mr. John Perrot, the British High Commissioner to The Gambia, has reacted to the questions over Gambia’s exclusion in Tony Blair’s tour list of the sub region by saying: “The Gambia was not included on the Prime Minister’s timetable and priority list due to certain factors. This, according to the High Commissioner was due to the fact that those countries visited by Tony Blair had a big say in the affairs of the New Partnership For the Development of Africa. Other considerations which may drive the British Prime Minister to visit a country, Mr. Perrot pointed, are based on the size of the presence of British troops in that country. “Gambia is a small country, it cannot be compared to Nigeria in size. One has to be realistic,” he said. This, he quickly added, should not be taken as an offense. Mr. Perrot further argued that the past colonial links between The Gambia and Britain would not count much. Adding: “our partnership with The Gambia is a modern one and it must be looked at beyond relying on a colonial past”. He further denied claims that Gambia’s exclusion from his Prime Minister’s tour list might have been connected to last year’s unceremonious departure of Bharat Joshi. ”We have retaliated in due course to that and we have agreed with Gambia government to work together,” Mr. Perrot remarked. He felt that the matter had been put to rest and should be left behind. “We are rebuilding the relationship and we will go on doing that,” he added. The High Commissioner also disclosed that they would get DFID annual strategy renewed and map out the way forward, adding that two million pounds was spend last year and 600,000 pounds was also spent on IEC operations. PEACE Tombong _________________________________________________________________ Join the world’s largest e-mail service with MSN Hotmail. http://www.hotmail.com <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html To contact the List Management, please send an e-mail to: [log in to unmask] <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>