Mori Kebba,
I believe the objective of communication is to be understood. The more we
exchange memoranda, the more you seem to misunderstand our position.
You raised the question about the National Assembly Member for Kiang East as
follows: ".... were you not aware of the arrest of a UDP national assembly
member for Kiang East ? for allegedly expressing his opinion about the
tragic deaths. At the same time following that incident you wrote an open
letter on behalf of your party expressing your general concern of the
crisis therefore I don't think there has been any better occasion than this
to do what is a right thing to do."
Then I wrote: "When our Central Committee met, Sidia Jatta was mandated to
raise the issue with his colleagues in the National Assembly so that a
meeting of
the committee responsible for the welfare of National Assembly Members would
be convened and the Secretary of State for National Assembly affairs to be
contacted to immediately work for the release of the member of the National
Assembly, failing which he would have recommended to be mandated as
Secretary to the Parliamentary Association to alert all Parliamentary
Associations they are affiliated with so that immediate action would be
taken to call for the release of the National Assembly Member".
" We could tell you what happened to this initiative, but that would
implicate others. You may write to Mr. Kemeseng Jammeh and ask him what
happened to this initiative".
It is abundantly clear from this that the initiative I referred to is the
one to free the National Assembly Member for Kiang East from detention. I
cannot understand how you could miss this point and went on to make the
following statement: "Again how will talking implicate others when you are
suggesting for Kemeseng Jammeh divulge to me the initiative that was
followed. Who will it exactly implicate?"
Where have I suggested for Kemeseng Jammeh to divulge anything regarding
developments in Basse or allegations against Darboe? What is abundantly
clear is that I was implying that the initiative for the National Assembly
to take a stand on the detention of the Kiang East Member of the National
Assembly was frustrated by those who should have been very keen to take a
stand so that such a practice will not reoccur again. I hope you have come
to accept that you are clearly wrong in implying that we did nothing when
the Kiang East Member of the National Assembly was arrested. Please
acknowledge this if you want me to take you as an honest, concerned Gambian.
Secondly, we wrote: "Your comment is not a fair one. We still believe that
you do not know what exactly happened between Gambisara and Numuyel nor do
you fully comprehend what happened after the Chamoi bridge. We still insist
that the matter has become a legal one and it will be most unfair to the UDP
to dwell on the substance. I would not mind sending you a personal
memorandum to explain the substance and leave you to analyse whether we
should take the approach that you expect us to take."
In your response, you wrote: "With due respect Mr. Sallah, from the day of
the attack, we had an avalanche of credible reports by members of this
reputable forum and from other international news organizations. My opinion
then, was based on those reports as well as reports by some of my personal
sources about the incident. I have never heard you refuting the credibility
of a single report at that time. So to assert that "I do not know what
exactly happened between Gambisara and Numuyel nor do I fully comprehend
what happened after the Chamoi bridge" is a great misrepresentation of
reality.
"Mr. Sallah, I must hasten to tell you that any personal memorandum you may
want to send to me will only be admissible in public domain."
This is very interesting, Mori Kebba. I guess it is as a result of your full
understanding of what happened in Basse which led you to draw the following
conclusion: "But what is important in the first place is whether the case
against the UDP and 24 others has any basis, they act in self defense and I
hope the prosecutors will see it in that light." May I inform you that
Radio 1FM had an interview with Darboe and the claim is that none of the
members of his entourage killed Alieu Njie. You are talking about self
defence. Have you consulted Darboe's lawyers before coming to your
conclusion? You still cannot see why we maintain that certain comments could
be prejudicial to the case. Anyway, you have a right to stick to your
opinion. Any day that you want a report of our own review of what transpired
between Gambissara and Numuyel and the eventual catastrophe after Chamoi, we
will be more than glad to brief you. It will be your prerogative to post
that in the L if you so desire.
Greetings.
Halifa Sallah.
----- Original Message -----
From: Mori Kebba Jammeh <[log in to unmask]>
To: <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Friday, July 21, 2000 12:01 AM
Subject: Re: THE UDP LEADER AND 24 OTHERS
> Halifa Sallah,
>
> Thank you for your response. I quote you "We still believe that you do not
> know what exactly happened between Gambisara and Numuyel nor do you fully
> comprehend what happened after the Chamoi bridge. We still insist that the
> matter has become a legal one and it will be most unfair to the UDP to
dwell
> on the substance
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