*The Gambian diplomat fires back in a terse reaction.*

By AllGambian.net
------------------------------

June 2, 2006
*"For god's sake, we are out of the cold war era, and I am not a Russian
trained 'diplomat' to be knowledgeable or engaged in the kind of act Pa
N'derry is claiming." That statement was made by Ambassador Dudu Bammy
Jagne, the Gambian Ambassador to the US, in a terse reaction to journalist
Pa Nderry Mbai's allegations against him and his staff.*

AllGambian.net in attempt to interview H.E. Dudu Bammy Jagne, to get his
reaction following allegations leveled against his mission by Mr. Pa Nderry
Mbai of the Freedom Newspaper that it was behind a deadly plot to take his
life and also the hacking of his website, Ambassador Jagne who politely
declined to respond to our email questionnaire as he put "to refrain from
giving a formal reply due to the seriousness of the allegations and
attendant consequences" however, gave the following personal response:

"Thank you for giving me the opportunity to react to the story carried by
Freedom Newspaper. I did promise to reply to your questions but, giving the
seriousness of the allegations and its attendant consequences, I beg to
Refrain from giving a formal reply to your pertinent questions. However,
permit me to say the following, without prejudice:

I do not know Pa N'derry Mbai, his origins or his associates. I have come to
learn of the 'hacking from his website. I came to know of the publication by
observer, after the fact. I also know that there are Gambians who are at
this moment, taking issue with Pa N'derry for having 'registered their names
as members of his web.

I know for a fact, after receiving complaints from those affected that they
disclaim membership of his web. They are of the strong belief that they were
trapped when they were asked to register before being able to access the
site. Evidence in substantiation is available but withheld.

Having read articles written by Pa N'derry, my opinion of him is that he is
of a puerile mentality and possibly, being remote controlled. (This is my
opinion).

For god's sake, we are out of the cold war era, and I am not a Russian
trained 'diplomat' to be knowledgeable or engaged in the kind of act Pa
N'derry is claiming. As for me as a person, those who know me, I believe can
speak their minds about me.

As I say, this matter may become subjudice, therefore I cannot at this
stage, be more elaborate in giving a response. I make no attempt also to
convince the public, they are free and of an independent mind to make an
informed judgement.

Let me stop here for now by saying that Pa N'derry owes me and the Gambia
Embassy an apology. I believe he also owes his readership, government and
all Gambians an apology. He has already done too much damage to the Gambian
character and pride. A true professional is able to discern the trees from
the forest: Not so with Pa N'derry. For him, every one is expendable, even
in the majority of instances when he doesn't get his facts right. For me,
there are two types of journalists; the true professional whose first duty
of care is to inform and thereby educate the public, this includes
researching, probing, verifying and even investigating stories before they
are published. The second type is the one who feigns professionalism and
will use any and every trick including blackmail, to tell a story. There is
a truism that a fool, who doesn't know that he is a fool, is a double fool.
Mr. Pa N'derry may belong to this latter class.

The embassy is open to the public and especially to Gambians in the US. We
would welcome visits by any one who genuinely want to know who we are and
what we do. We can be demystified, too. Thank you again for your concern. "

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