Gambia: Former leader flies out of Banjul airport with President of Guinea
As Yahya Jammeh climbs the stairs to the plane, he turns to the crowd, kisses his Quran and waves to his supporters for one final time
Your support helps us to tell the story
From reproductive rights to climate change to Big Tech, The Independent is on the ground when the story is developing. Whether it's investigating the financials of Elon Musk's pro-Trump PAC or producing our latest documentary, 'The A Word', which shines a light on the American women fighting for reproductive rights, we know how important it is to parse out the facts from the messaging.
At such a critical moment in US history, we need reporters on the ground. Your donation allows us to keep sending journalists to speak to both sides of the story.
The Independent is trusted by Americans across the entire political spectrum. And unlike many other quality news outlets, we choose not to lock Americans out of our reporting and analysis with paywalls. We believe quality journalism should be available to everyone, paid for by those who can afford it.
Your support makes all the difference.The Gambia’s former leader Yahya Jammeh has flown out of the capital Banjul and into political exile, ending his 22-year-reign.
Mr Jammeh arrived at the airport with Alpha Conde, the president of Guinea, who served as a mediator during the crisis.
The pair are thought to be heading to Guinea and from there the former leader will move to an unknown country.
As Mr Jammeh climbed the stairs to the plane, he turned to the crowd, kissed his Quran and waved to his supporters, including soldiers who cried at his departure.
The authoritarian leader took power in a 1994 coup and has stepped down after facing pressure from West African armies that entered Gambia to force him to recognise that he lost an election to President Adama Barrow.
Mr Barrow said he would launch a “truth and reconciliation commission” to investigate all possible crimes Mr Jammeh may have committed.
"We aren't talking about prosecution here, we are talking about getting a truth and reconciliation commission," Mr Barrow told the Associated Press.
"Before you can act, you have to get the truth, to get the facts together."
Human rights activists had demanded Mr Jammeh be held responsible for allegedly torturing and detaining opponents.
All flights to the UK from Gambia have been suspended amid the crisis and the Foreign Office has issued an alert.
In a statement on its website, Thomas Cook said it had activated contingency plans and was laying on extra flights to remove 985 package tour customers from the nation.
It was also trying to contact a further 2,500 “flight only” tourists in Gambia to arrange for their departure on the earliest available flight.
Join our commenting forum
Join thought-provoking conversations, follow other Independent readers and see their replies
Comments