Gassama, thanks for this forward.  On the face of this communiqué, this
warming of relations between the two countries could benefit Gambia if it is
not another deep pocket for the President and his cronies.  Because we have
witnessed such pronouncements during the seven years of the APRC and the net
effect is that we are poorer as a nation and the cabal is richer than the
state.  This excerpt, "Embassy of the United States of America in Banjul,
The Gambia, is pleased to announce that, effective March 5th, 2002, the U.S.
Government has lifted the restrictions on bilateral assistance imposed
against the Republic of the Gambia in 1994, as required by section 508 of
the US Foreign Assistance Act", talks about assistance and not improving
trade relations.  Gambians need access to US markets more so than
assistance. That is how we can develop and also sustain that development.  I
guess we need to know what section 508 describes.  Also, how does this
relate to the US government's recent exclusion of The Gambia from its debt
reduction or cancellation program, just recently?  In addition, this
statement, "The United States looks forward to pursuing constructive
relations with the people and the Government of Republic of The Gambia on a
normal legal basis and in accordance with fundamental values, most notably,
democratic freedoms, the rule of law, and human dignity", seem to suggest
that the "fundamental conditions" have not yet been met, which would be
consistent with the UN Human Rights report.  I hope more information
regarding this issue will be provided.

Chi Jaama

Joe Sambou



>From: Jungle Sunrise <[log in to unmask]>
>Reply-To: The Gambia and related-issues mailing list
><[log in to unmask]>
>To: [log in to unmask]
>Subject: Another Milestone reached - from The Gambia Daily Observer.
>Date: Fri, 8 Mar 2002 09:57:53 +0000
>



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