My Fellow Gambians, Over the years I, and many other like-minded Gambians, have struggled to bring about a return to genuine democracy in our homeland. We have worked tirelessly to expose the corrupt nature of Yahya Jammeh and the APRC regime. We have worked to support the rule of law, and to protect the rights and freedoms of Gambians at home. Now the Gambian electorate has chosen Mr. Jammeh as its President for the next five years. Almost 53 per cent of Gambians eligible to vote have returned Mr. Jammeh to power. I cannot overturn their choice, and as a committed democrat, nor would I wish to. Democracy is about exercising the sovereign will of the majority. Like other opponents of Mr. Jammeh, I concede defeat in this Presidential Election. However, I have to say that my opposition to Mr. Jammeh remains as fiercely strong as ever before. I do not personally believe that this man is of the calibre or intellectual stature to lead The Gambia: I believe that his integrity is extremely suspect. These are my opinions, and I am entitled to them, as those supporters of Mr. Jammeh are entitled to theirs. I remain committed to the protection of human rights and civic freedoms in my homeland, and I urge all Gambians everywhere to remember those of our fellow citizens who are held illegally in our country: Momodou Dumo Sarho, Ebrima Barrow, Lt. Lalo Jaiteh, Lt. Omar Darboe, Momodou Marenah and others. I pray that sooner rather than later they will be released from their illegal detention. During these last few years, I have been indebted to many courageous contacts at the heart of government in The Gambia. These people have served as my reliable sources, and have ensured that in many instances, I have been able to pass on accurate and up-do-date information through the Gambia-List. I have carefully protected my sources’ identitities, and will continue to do so. I wish to thank them publicly and from the bottom of my heart, for their tireless support and for their courage in exposing corruption. I also urge them to keep safe. My energies will now be channelled into academic research in the U.K as I work on my Ph.D programme. My thoughts will always be with my country and my fellow citizens. God save The Gambia. Ameen. Ebrima Ceesay, Birmingham, UK _________________________________________________________________ Get your FREE download of MSN Explorer at http://explorer.msn.com/intl.asp <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>> To view archives of postings, go to the Gambia-L Web interface at: http://maelstrom.stjohns.edu/archives/gambia-l.html <<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>//\\<<//\\>>