Mr. Colly,
Thanks for all your revelations. It takes some courage to do what you're
doing. But for historical accuracy, the truth about national affairs ought
to be told. You're also confirming some info for some of us.
For the record, the day Lt. Barrow and co. were executed in 1994, a then
All-Mighty Vice Chairman Sana Sabally told a mutual friend that Barrow
deserves everything he got, because he (Barrow) was their "chosen leader,"
but he had betrayed them. And that because he (Barrow) was a very hard
working fellow, and "the most competent Tactical Officer(?) in the army,"
they gave him a major Command position, but he wasn't satisfied. So, him and
all the officers close to him had to go. According to Sana himself, there
was NO coup attempt. Rather, they were PRE-EMPTING a possible coup attempt.
He said they had evidence that a coup was in the offing, and Barrow was
leader. They (him, Edward, Yaya) called Barrow to State House that morning,
and asked if there's any truth to the story. Barrow denied it. But they were
not convinced that he was being truthful. He, Sana had worked with Barrow,
and knew the guy to be an intelligent officer, "who knew how to hide his
true emotions, blah, blah, blah." So, when the guy went back to his Faraja
Command?, they decided to launch a surprise attack -surround them, throw in
grenades, force them to surrender, etc.
There was the "coup attempt" of Nov. 11th, 1994, and the Death Sentence of
60/62 men in uniform. This was the gist of what Sana told a mutual friend.
Question: Do your personal knowledge confirm, or contradict any of this?
On Sana, Edward, and Yaya, it's obvious that the Army guys seriously
underestimated the Gendermes Officer, and the degree to which he'll be
willing to invoke ethnic sentiments to buttress his position as Chairman.
Sana in particular made no secret of his contempt for Yaya, which ultimately
led to his undoing.
I spoke to an Army Sharpshooter back in early '95 who witnessed Sana's
arrest inside the State House complex. The guy told me that, Edward
personally pulled a pistol on Sana (placed point-blank on his head.) But
here is the interesting stuff: Our Yaya bolted to the bathroom, because
"Sana being a close friend, his arrest evoked tender emotions in Yaya." The
guy said that after the noise of Sana's arrest sunsided, Yaya emerged from
the bathroom visibly shaken.
Question: Do you have any info, that would either confirm, or refute this
guy's story?
Thanks for jump-starting my week.
Good morning.
Saul.
>From: ebou colly <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: COUP IN GAMBIA ONE
>Date: Sun, 22 Apr 2001 17:28:34 -0700
>
> COUP IN GAMBIA ONE
>
>A British military officer I once met in San Remo
>Italy asked me to put the reason why there was a coup
>in The Gambia in two words.
>"Command breakdown and government complacency," I gave
>it to him in five.
>
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