Free Republic

A British couple working as Christian missionaries in Gambia have been jailed for one year with hard labour for sending emails that were critical of the Muslim state. David Fulton, 60, a former Army major, and his wife, Fiona, 46, pleaded guilty to making seditious comments "with intent to bring hatred or contempt against the president or the government". Their sentence, in a country which has one of west Africa's worst human rights records, sparked concern after reports that other prisoners on similar charges have been poisoned while in jail. The couple, originally from Torquay in Devon, have spent 12...

OSLO (Reuters) - Police in Norway have arrested a Gambian-born man and charged him and his wife with subjecting five of their six daughters to genital mutilation, officials said on Friday. ADVERTISEMENT The practice, also known as female circumcision, is outlawed in Norway and arouses horror among many people in the West but is a rite of passage for young women in many countries, predominantly in Africa. The youngest of the five mutilated girls, all born in Norway, is five years old, police officials said. The others are aged seven, 10, 13 and 14 and live in Gambia, national broadcaster...

Gambian President Yahya Jammeh says he will “cut off the head” of any homosexual caught in his country. Addressing supporters at the end of his meet the farmers tour here Sunday, Jammeh also ordered any hotel or motel housing homosexuals to close down, adding that owners of such facilities would also be in trouble. He said the Gambia was a country of believers, indicating that no sinful and immoral act as homosexual would be tolerated in the country. He warned all homosexuals in the country to leave, noting that a legislation “stricter than those in Iran ” concerning the vice...

Jammeh has so far refused to disclose details of his herbal concoction, saying only that the treatment uses seven plants - "three of which are not from Gambia." The treatment begins with the president applying the green paste, stored inside a deli-style plastic container. Next is a gray-colored solution, which he splashes on the patient's skin. It is stored inside an old Evian bottle, as is the yellowish, tea-like brew which patients are asked to drink. The therapy is administered numerous times over the course of several weeks. After treating the original nine, Jammeh emerged from his black-tinted treatment chamber,...

Speech of President Yahya Jammeh of Gambia to the Gambian Congress, January 18, 2007 “I call you to this meeting and maybe you will wonder why I called you including the two Ambassadors from Cuba and Taiwan. I called the two Ambassadors and of course Rose Clair Charles because you have a direct link with the health delivery system of this country. You know that Cuba is a key partner in our health sector and Taiwan is the force behind the Medical Team in The Gambia. This is a follow up to what I said on GRTS that I will...

After 7 long years of arduous work, Iranian scientists here on Saturday introduced a herbal medicine which cures Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS). "The drug named 'IMOD' is completely effective and safe with no proved side effects," Iran's Minister of Health, Treatment and Medical Training Kamran Bagheri Lankarani said during a ceremony at Tehran's Imam Khomeini Hospital.

The president of Gambia has claimed the personal ability to cure HIV-Aids within three days.Yahya Jammeh, who has no medical training but boasts an "extensive knowledge of traditional herbal therapy", said that he would personally cure Gambians struck down by the epidemic after announcing what would be one of the great breakthroughs in medical science, if true. "I am not a witch-doctor," said Mr Jammeh, who seized power in the tiny West African country in a coup 12 years ago. "In fact, you cannot have witch-doctor. You are either a witch or a doctor." A government statement hailed Mr Jammeh's...

Hunt for Gambia's mythical dragon A child's depiction of the ninki-nanka on the expedition's blog A team of UK dragon-hunters is on an expedition in The Gambia to track down a mysterious creature known locally as the "Ninki-nanka".Believed to live in swamps, the ninki-nanka appears in the folklore of many parts of West Africa. It is described as having a horse-like face, a long body with mirror-like scales and a crest of skin on its head. Team leader Richard Freeman told the BBC, evidence so far was sketchy as most people died soon after seeing it. Mr Freeman, a...

BANJUL (Reuters) - Europe and the United States should apologize to Africa for the cruelties of slavery, Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez said on Sunday, calling on African states to resist modern day U.S. colonialism. Attending a summit of African leaders in Gambia, Chavez said both Africa and Latin America had been blighted by slavery and colonialism for centuries, to the benefit of Europe and North America. "Africa is still weeping ... and Europe does not recognize it. Europe should apologize, get on its knees and apologize," Chavez, invited to attend the summit as a guest, told reporters. "They should lower...

BANJUL (Reuters) - Two of the world's most anti-American leaders, Hugo Chavez of Venezuela and Iran's Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, attended this weekend's Africa summit in Gambia to the consternation of Western diplomats. Both lived up to their billing with Chavez railing against U.S. "hegemony" and Ahmadinejad blaming Western greed for "poverty, backwardness, regional conflicts, corruption, illicit drugs." The role of West-baiting once fell at AU summits to Libya's colourful leader Muammar Gaddafi but he has now been welcomed into the Western fold and Libya is soon to be taken off the U.S. list of state sponsors of terrorism. So why were...

BANJUL, 22 March (IRIN) - The Gambian government has thwarted a coup attempt, a presidential communique said on Wednesday, but it is business as usual in the capital Banjul. "Security forces yesterday discovered that a group of army officers led by Colonel Ndure Cham, former chief of defence staff, were at an advanced stage in their plot to overthrow the constitutional government of The Gambia," said the statement from the office of the president. "All those involved are presently in custody and helping the security forces in their investigation, except the leader who is still at large," it added. An...

Senegal may tunnel under Gambia Senegal's president has suggested building a tunnel under Gambia to link the country's north and south. Gambia - which is a long thin sliver of land surrounded by Senegal - has a stranglehold on the best routes between one part of Senegal and the other. Relations between the two countries have become increasingly frayed since a row over increased ferry charges erupted in August. On Tuesday, some Senegalese soldiers were briefly held in Gambia's capital. The group of soldiers were taking the shortest route between northern Senegal and its southern region, Casamance, which cuts across...

TEHRAN (MNA) –- President Mohammad Khatami said here on Tuesday that the atrocities committed by the Zionist regime, ethnic disputes, and terrorism are the main threats to the Islamic world. He made the remarks in a meeting with Algeria’s new ambassador to Iran, Mohammad Amin Dragi, saying the two countries should step up efforts to confront common threats and pursue bilateral interests. Khatami praised Algeria for its independence struggle, progress, and development, stressing that the two countries should strive to exploit their potential in the best way possible. The president stated that he had held constructive talks with Algerian officials...

The Mandinka tribe of Gambia, Africa, adheres to a religious practice completely unique to its people -- they worship actress Salma Hayek's breasts! While most primitive societies tend to pray to animal or ancestral spirits, or to stars and planets as the Mandinkans once did, that all changed in 1995. Mandinkan farmer Danjuma Kianga remembers, through an interpreter, the moment it happened. "As a special treat, Chief Tuamanguluka arranged for a movie to be shown here for the first time ever. The movie was Desperado, starring the blessed Salma Hayek as Carolina, a beautiful woman who works for the local...

The three ambassadors who died violent deaths were Cleo Noel Jr.,killed in March 1973 when Palestinian terrorists struck an embassy in Sudan; Adolph Dubs, killed in 1973 when Afghan police stormed a hotel room where he was being held by terrorists; and Arnold Raphel, who died in 1988 when a plane crashed. Receiving waivers as longtime diplomats with military service were William Rivkin and Philip Crowe. Rivkin, who died in 1967, served as ambassador to Senegal, Gambia and Luxembourg and spent five years of in the Army during World War II, rising to the rank of lieutenant colonel. Crowe, who...

The Angolan Goverment recommended the setting up of mutilsectorian comission to study, evaluate, and propose the adoption of measures aimed at reinforcing security of airports in the country. (after one man walked on the African tarmac and piloted the 727 off to destinations unknown-ed)The Angolan Minister of Transportation Andre Luis Brandao assured that an inquiry is being done and that in his department 'the results are always published' noting that this was a very unusual case.He stressed that this situation will call for urgent and efficient measures to be taken to keep order and security in the '4 de Fevereiro'...

A BOEING 727 passenger jet, grounded at Luanda airport a year ago, has disappeared after a mysterious unauthorised take-off, Angola state radio reported today. The plane, chartered by the Angolan airline Airangol, was grounded after being banned from overflying Angolan territory on account of a series of irregularities, said Angola civil aviation director Helder Preza. A witness to the plane's departure on Sunday, airport employee Luis Lopes, said he saw a white man start the empty plane and then take off after a few dangerous land manoeuvres. Airport chief Celso Rosa said there was some evidence to believe the Boeing...

WASHINGTON (CNN) -- A senior U.S. official confirms that the government of Angola has reported a missing Boeing 727 aircraft. The plane apparently departed from Angola several days ago on a flight to Burkina Faso, in northwestern Africa, but it never made it to its destination, and its whereabouts are unknown, this official said. The official said there is "no evidence or information to suggest this is terrorist-related," and suggested "it is most likely criminal." According to this official, the plane was leased, and the people involved were behind in their payments. U.S. law enforcement and the intelligence community are...

Washington, DC: Last week was the most eventful and dramatic of the three weeks since the war on Iraq began. Starting with the cautious entrance of American forces into the Iraqi capital, the third week of Operation Iraqi Freedom ended with the fall of Baghdad, and the definite end of Saddam Hussein's 35 years iron grip on power. One by one, major cities around the country fell to coalition forces and rather quickly, the autocratic regime of Saddam Hussein melted into oblivion. The regime is down, but not out, analysts say. But Saddam Hussein is surely out, though whether he...

BANJUL, Gambia: Authorities in the West African nation of Gambia have arrested two people in a suspected plot against the US ambassador there, a US State Department official has said. The plot concerned "a possible threat" to Ambassador Jackson McDonald, the State Department official said in Washington, speaking on condition of anonymity. Neither the US embassy officials in the capital, Banjul, nor Gambian military or government officials could immediately be reached for comment. News of Thursday's arrests emerged only late on Sunday. US authorities gave no details. Gambia, a former British colony that won independence in 1965, is a predominantly...