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2nd LD: Gambia's Jammeh agrees to step down

Xinhua, January 21, 2017 Adjust font size:

Former Gambian President Yahya Jammeh announced on Saturday that he would step down from power after a last-chance talks with leaders from west African countries.

"I have decided today, in good conscience to relinquish the mantle of leadership of this great nation, with infinite gratitude to all Gambians," said the longtime leader on state TV early Saturday morning.

Jammeh said he had promised that all the issues "will be resolved peacefully" and "it is not necessary that a single drop of blood be shed."

Jammed's announcement came after hours of a last-chance mediation with Mauritania President Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz and Guinean President Alpha Conde in Banjul.

"My decision today was not dictated by anything else, but by the supreme interest of the Gambian people and our dear country," said the veteran leader who came into power in 1994.

Accepting to cede power, Jammeh reiterated that he would always be together with the Gambians to "defend the independence" of this country.

Friday evening, Gambian President Adama Barrow wrote on his Twitter that "Yahya Jammeh has agreed to step down. He is scheduled to depart Gambia today."

Jammeh lost the election to Barrow in December and initially

conceded defeat, only to change his mind saying the vote had been

unfair.

Earlier on Friday, Aziz and Conde arrived in Banjul for one "last mediation" to persuade Jammeh to give up presidential power to Barrow before eventual military intervention.

Soldiers from the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), led by Senegalese and Nigerian troops, stopped advancing in Gambia on Thursday night to give Jammeh a last chance to step down peacefully.

"Orders were given to the troops to stop their advance and they have stopped because the ECOWAS privileges the initiatives of dialogue and diplomacy," President of the ECOWAS Commission Marcel Alain Da Souza said.

The Senegalese army, backed by other west-african soldiers, entered Gambia Thursday afternoon in a military operation aimed at forcing Jammeh to cede power to Barrow who was sworn in Thursday in Dakar as the new president of Gambia.

So far, no information has been given about where Jammeh is heading. Morocco, Nigeria, Mauritania and Guinea all offered to welcome him. Endi