Posted 11/29/05 15:53
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Gambia President Replaces "Abusive" Military Chief
By REUTERS, BANJUL


Gambian President Yahya Jammeh dismissed the head of the West African
country’s armed forces on Tuesday, saying his abusive treatment of other
soldiers was a breach of military standards of behavior. Jammeh, an
ex-wrestler and former soldier who seized power in a bloodless coup in
1994, dismissed navy Captain Assan Sarr as chief of defense staff and
discharged him from the armed forces, a statement from the president’s
office said.

Sarr’s replacement will be Lieutenant-Colonel Ndure Cham, who was promoted
to colonel with immediate affect -- the highest rank in the Gambian army.

Sarr was dismissed because of his "degrading, humiliating and abusive
treatment of soldiers on guard, including physical assault" and "use of
abusive, profane and insulting language against senior officers," the
statement said.



Such conduct was "inimical to the refined standards of the military, and
will not be tolerated in the armed forces of the Gambia."

Jammeh faces presidential polls next year. He won elections in 1996 which
foreign observers and political opponents dismissed as unfair.

He opened his presidential election campaign in 2001 by saying he had
already won and threatening to shoot anyone who disrupted polling.

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